Category: World

Hong Kong police have confirmed that 168 people died in the massive blaze that ripped through an apartment complex in Hong Kong last November – seven more than previously announced.

The ages of the victims ranged from six months to 98 years old, police said in a statement on Thursday. Of the victims, fifty-eight of them were male and 110 were female. Many of them were elderly residents who had lived in the apartment complex for decades.

The fire at Wang Fuk Court was the deadliest that the city had seen in decades.

More than 30 people have been arrested in connection to the fire, on suspicions of manslaughter, fraud or corruption, city leader John Lee said on Wednesday.

Announcing that officials had completed all identification work, security secretary Chris Tang said the final death toll stood at 168.

Among the deceased are 10 domestic workers – nine Indonesians and one Filipina – five construction workers and two interior decorators.

Built in the 1980s, Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s north-eastern Tai Po district housed about 4,600 people, according to the 2021 census. Nearly 40% of the residents were 65 or older.

Thousands of firefighters were deployed to bring the fire under control. One of them, 37-year-old Ho Wai-ho, died during the firefighting operation.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2w9wqek3jo

Donald Trump’s hostile signals over Greenland and the aftermath of the Venezuela attack have raised fears in Japan and South Korea that Washington is no longer committed to its allies in East Asia.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung received a very warm welcome from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during his visit to Japan this week, with the two leaders pictured exchanging gifts in Nara, Takaichi’s hometown, and even playing the drums together.

The two-day summit ended with Lee and Takaichi pledging to make headway on various bilateral issues.

The bonhomie was even more noteworthy given that the two leaders come from different ends of the political spectrum, with Takaichi a conservative hawk and Lee a committed progressive. Their parties have had sharp words for each other in the past.

But analysts say Tokyo and Seoul feel the need to present a united front — not only to face China’s growing power in northeast Asia and the unpredictable regime in North Korea, but also because of their shared concerns about their nominally closest ally, the United States.

Those fears have spiked after Washington’s attack on Venezuela earlier this month. The military operation was brief and ended with the seizure of President Nicolas Maduro, but it also signaled a major geopolitical shift and the rising US focus on the Western hemisphere. Commenting on the attack, US President Donald Trump invoked the 200-year-old Monroe Doctrine about Washington’s supremacy in that part of the world, dubbing its revival the “Donroe Doctrine” in reference to his own name.

Is Washington still committed to Asia?

The worry in Seoul and Tokyo is that Trump is becoming less interested in the peace and security of northeast Asia, which could encourage other nations to test the US administration in the region.

“Both Japan and Korea have reason to feel disquiet about the so-called ‘Donroe Doctrine,’ as it portends the risk of a more isolationist-leaning US that is prepared to leave its allies to fend for themselves,” said Erwin Tan, a professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.

“I would say that (South) Korea feels this rather more acutely than Japan and European allies of the US,” he told DW.

“Japan benefits from its status as an archipelagic country, as a result of which it does not face a serious land warfare threat,” Tan pointed out. “Japan’s existing air and naval capabilities assuage its fears of a land invasion to some degree.”

“Europe benefits from the existing nuclear arsenals of the UK and France, as well as the potential capacity for a larger pool of like-minded allies, even if the response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine among some European countries has been somewhat lackluster,” he said.

Japan and South Korea forced to step up

Current security issues in East Asia have been brewing for decades and have only grown more heated in recent years with China aggressively expanding its military, seizing the atolls of the South China Sea and making aggressive moves towards Taiwan, which it sees as its own territory. China’s ally North Korea has also forged a new alliance with Russia that is allowing it more leeway in dealing with Seoul.

In turn, US allies South Korea and Japan are forced to consider that its ties with the US are now no longer as rock solid as they once were.

In August 2023, President Joe Biden hosted the first US-Japan-South Korea summit at Camp David, creating a three-way security alliance designed to counter shared threats by deepening military, economic and technological ties.

“There is a growing feeling in Seoul that in order to keep the trilateral arrangement going, it needs to have a good relationship with Tokyo — and both sides now have reached the conclusion that it is up to Korea and Japan to pull the alliance along instead of the US taking the lead,” said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, senior non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council.

Biden’s successor Trump has signaled a willingness to turn on long-standing US allies, as seen in the growing crisis over Greenland.

South Korea and Japan are “watching what is going on elsewhere and hoping that over the rest of Trump’s term, nothing goes wrong here,” said Hinata-Yamaguchi.

He added that hope does not amount to a reliable tactic, so both Asian governments are also making more concrete plans.

Hunting for new allies in the West

In Nara, Takaichi and Lee committed to forming closer security ties, working to bring about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, greater multilateral cooperation, economic cooperation and supply chain resilience.

And while they are also working hard to keep the US committed to the existing arrangement — Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii on Monday to emphasize the need for cooperation to preserve regional security — both South Korea and Japan are broadening their defense horizons.

Seoul also held talks this week with defense officials from the Netherlands, looking at expanding cooperation in the development of weapons, high-level exchanges and the space and cyber security domains, while Japan is pushing ahead with the development of a next-generation fighter aircraft with the UK and Italy. For the first time, British paratroopers took part in a joint exercise with their Japanese and US counterparts in Japan this week.

The nuclear option

Hankuk University lecturer Erwin Tan points out that in 1969, the then-US president Richard Nixon put forward the Nixon Doctrine, under which the US military presence in the Indo-Pacific would be scaled back.

That position was so alarming to the South Korean government that President Park Chung-hee declared that he would be pursuing an independent nuclear capability. The crisis was resolved without South Korea obtaining its own nuclear weapons, but the debate has rekindled in recent years.

“In 2020, amidst concern over Trump winning re-election, there was public debate in both Korea and Japan about the possibility of them developing independent nuclear arsenals,” Tan said.

“I have no doubt that policymakers in both countries have been undertaking quiet discussions on the matter,” he said.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/seoul-tokyo-watch-us-foreign-policy-twists-with-rising-fear/a-75516264

The ruthless slaughter of anti-government protesters in Iran appears to have stopped — but only because residents are being held hostage in their homes by machine gun-wielding security forces that have flooded the streets, sources told The Post Thursday.

After weeks of anti-regime protests across Iran left thousands dead, the mass mobilization of security forces has suppressed the demonstrations, with many too afraid to step foot outside now.

“There were tanks out — there’s tanks everywhere,” the source told The Post after speaking to family in Tehran about the current situation.

“There’s trucks that are covered, with 10 people inside with machine guns just aiming them at everyone on the street.”

Another person in Tehran said fear has gripped the capital as police and security forces patrol the roads and conduct stops.

The local confirmed that the only reason calm returned to Tehran on Thursday was because of the mass killing of protesters, with more than 2,600 people killed since the demonstrations began, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

“There are no protests anymore because of massive killings. With 12,000 dead, people are terrified,” the local said, referencing the higher estimated death toll from activist groups.

The source called on President Trump to intervene — now — despite his claims Wednesday that “the other side” indicated that Iran has stopped the killing of protesters.

“We are waiting for Trump’s action, he promised to support Iranian protesters if the regime killed them! It is the time to attack this brutal regime!” the local said.

Trump had threatened to take military action against Iran if it continued to kill the protesters.

Images out of Tehran on Thursday show residents out and about, trying to carry on with their day as normal as possible while surrounded by vehicles destroyed during the protests.

Some were headed to the hospitals and morgues to recover the bodies of their loved ones killed in the demonstrations, with officials allegedly threatening to dump the bodies in a mass grave if relatives don’t claim the corpses soon, one of the sources told The Post.

Iran’s security forces have been accused of enacting one of its most brutal attacks on dissent in the history of the Islamic Republic, with nearly 17,000 people arrested, according to the HRANA.

Shocking video has since emerged of mass shootings against civilians, along with a brutal raid at the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam, where armed forces wounded patients and medical staffers.

Witnesses confirmed that the security forces began firing inside the hospital and deploying tear gas as they searched for people wounded in an earlier protest, with about 11 patients hauled away by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, DW reported.

“We knew the security agents were coming to arrest the wounded or record their identities,” a nurse, who did not reveal her real name, told the outlet.

“People gathered at the entrance to stop them,” she added. “At the same time, we were desperately short of blood, so calls for donors went out on social media.

“But the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and special units prevented donors from reaching us.”

The siege against the hospital lasted more than 24 hours, with patients, doctors, nurses, and even children suffering injuries due to the violence, according to reports highlighted by human rights organizations.

“Security forces allegedly raided the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam, deploying tear gas and beating patients and medical personnel,” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in its latest Fact-Finding Mission report.

The full extent of the crackdown against the protesters has yet to be independently verified following a nationwide communications outage in Iran.

The protests and killing of demonstrators were the focus of an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting Thursday.

Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad warned the UN that the Islamic Republic cannot be dealt with normally, likening Tehran to the Islamic State terrorist group.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/15/world-news/disturbing-reason-iran-appears-to-have-stopped-killing-protesters/

Tyler Robinson’s transgender lover was under FBI protection after he seemingly vanished from his Utah hometown for months, a family member and sources revealed.

In the family’s first public remarks since Robinson was arrested for Charlie Kirk’s Sept. 10 assassination, the relative also cast doubt on just how cooperative Lance Twiggs is to the police.

The revelation comes as the Twiggs’ family member said the young lovers – both 22 – were once talented, promising students who spiraled into delusion thanks to video games and an online Discord chatroom.

“Being as antisocial as they were, from my understanding – you know, playing these games and being part of this, this Discord group … they didn’t seem like they were in a real world,” the unnamed relative said during an interview with NewsNation’s Brian Entin Thursday.

She said their distorted sense of reality was even evident in the now-public text messages they exchanged immediately following Kirk’s murder at Utah Valley University, in which Thompson allegedly confessed to the hateful slaying.

“The world that they were in, like this gaming world, like that was a normal way that they kind of spoke,” she explained.

But that wasn’t always the case.

“Both of them are super smart…[Lance] was a concert pianist – he has talent for piano. [His] music was off the charts – not normal, it was very impressive.

“And that’s kind of what I heard about Tyler is that he was just so smart.

“It’s just a shame that these kids had so much potential and so, such a bright future.”

Authorities provided protection for Twiggs and his family while they moved from place to place for a while – but he’s with his family now, according to the relative.

“My understanding was for the first few weeks, cause there was so many threats against his family and him, that…they did have a little bit of FBI detail and they kind of moved around a little bit, but they’re not anymore. He’s with his family,” she said.

At the time, Twiggs appeared to just disappear from his St. George, Utah hometown, where he previously lived with Thompson in an $1,800-per-month townhouse.

A law enforcement source confirmed to Fox News Digital Thursday that Twiggs was no longer under FBI protection, but he was cooperating with authorities.

His family member, however, doubted to what extent.

“When I first found out about how he was taken in and talked to by the police…I know that they said that he was very cooperative but they had to go get him and bring him in – he didn’t voluntarily go in and say, ‘Hey, I heard about this and I have some knowledge,’” she said.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/15/us-news/ocation-of-charlie-kirk-suspects-boyfriend-lance-twiggs-revealed/

You can’t put a price tag on this Arctic island — at least, that’s the message from the people who live here as rumors swirl of US offers to purchase it.

“We are not for sale. Our land is not for sale. This goes back to our ancestors,” said Larserak Matthiessen, a Nuuk carpenter, told The Post

Peter Kristiansen, a Nuuk stone-carving artist teaching locals his craft when The Post caught him, agreed: “I want Greenland to be independent, but we’re not ready yet. But I hope it happens before I die.”

President Trump wants Greenland for national security reasons — both for the island’s rich rare-earth minerals and its geostrategic location between the US and any possible threats from Russia.

He also claims Moscow or Beijing will take over the island eventually if the US doesn’t take it by force or through money.

“One way or another, we’re going to have Greenland,” he said Sunday.

Most residents told The Post they want freedom from Denmark, a longtime NATO ally of the US, and aren’t thrilled about another occupation, Greenlandic parliamentary members Kuno Fencker and Juno Berthelsen told The Post.

Opinions diverge on when and how independence should happen, but the Greenlandic parliamentary members urged the Trump administration to buy into their quest for freedom or else overtures could fall flat.

“The wrong framing is that we can purchase a country or purchase a people,” Fencker said. “That’s the absolute wrong framing.” He and Berthelsen suggested Washington should support Greenland’s right to self-determination — and be ready to make deals once that happens.

That could appeal to Greenlanders such as student Oliver Bech, who said the financial angle is key — but “the vast majority of people” would still refuse paychecks to become the 51st state.

“The Americans already have a space base here in Greenland,” he said while warming up with a cappuccino in a popular cafe. “… But it’s actually Denmark that’s earning money from renting out land, and not us directly. Maybe it would be much better if we actually received that instead.”

Economic realities are stifling. Greenland must import nearly everything — from fruits and vegetables to machinery — and prices are high, with a harsher inflation rate than mainland Denmark.

Still, Emma Holm, who receives just $1,000 a month of unemployment welfare while caring for her elderly aunt, said she values Denmark’s social safety net.

That safety net is partly funded by Denmark’s “block grant” to the country, equating to roughly $477 million — about a fifth of Greenland’s total budget.

Asked whether she’d accept a rumored $100,000-per-person offer to become American, she said she felt more comfortable with the devil she knows.

“I don’t know. It depends. I mean, I’ve lived in Greenland all my life and I know the hospital is free and the education is free,” she said. “So I cannot say it should be changed. Greenland is Greenland.”

Even those frustrated with Denmark’s past colonization remain wary of cash handouts from outsiders.

“I’ve had enough of Denmark and how they governed us in history. I had enough,” said Nikolannguaq Heilmann, a retired shrimp boat engineer. “I would rather prefer us as a big partner. But that’s a very arrogant way to try. People know better than that.”

Fencker and Berthelsen — both members of Greenland’s pro-independence Naleraq party — said Greenlanders’ skepticism is justified, stressing that any deal with the United States must respect Greenland’s legal right to independence under the 2009 Self-Rule Act.

Under current law, Greenland must first negotiate with Denmark before opening direct talks with Washington on defense, security, or economic agreements — leaving the island in a tricky position.

As Arctic competition heats up, Fencker said any future relationship with Washington must come through sovereignty, not a price tag.

“We have self-rule, but the economic situation is very difficult,” he said, noting that Denmark’s block grant is indexed to Danish inflation — even though inflation is often higher in Greenland. “The block grant is not sufficient.”

Fencker warned that if Denmark walked away during independence talks, it would create a geopolitical “vacuum” that a superpower would inevitably fill. Rather than subsidies, he said Greenland’s strategic location is its leverage.

“Placement, placement, placement,” Fencker said. “If you want access to this location, you pay.”

That could mean renegotiating US military access, including expanding beyond the American Pituffik Space Base under a revised defense agreement, and paying Greenland directly to rent land — instead of routing everything through Copenhagen.

Berthelsen said opposition to independence is concentrated largely in Nuuk and driven by fears over losing Danish funding, cultural ties, and access to education.

“The block grant is the central argument,” he said. “People say we’re not economically ready.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/15/world-news/greenlanders-say-theyre-not-for-sale-but-partnership-with-us-is-possible/

U.S. lawmakers and former officials on Wednesday questioned President Donald Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia to sell its second most powerful AI chips in China, arguing the move erodes America’s AI edge and threatens to electrify Beijing’s military.
The Trump administration on Tuesday gave a formal green light to China-bound sales of Nvidia’s NVDA.OH200 chips, putting in place a rule that will likely kick-start shipments of the H200 despite deep concerns among China hawks in Washington.

Matt Pottinger, who served as a senior White House Asia advisor during Trump’s first term, told a congressional hearing that the administration is on the “wrong track” on AI and that its decision to allow the chip sales will damage its goal of winning the AI race.
Selling H200s to China “will supercharge Beijing’s military modernization, enhancing capabilities in everything from nuclear weapons to cyber warfare, autonomous drones, biological warfare and intelligence and influence operations,” he said. “Congress needs to put guardrails in place so that this mistake can’t be repeated,” he added.
Some Republican lawmakers echoed his concerns, without explicitly condemning the policy change.

“They steal so much intellectual property from this country but we don’t have to sell it to them,” Congressman Michael McCaul said, without referencing H200s specifically.
National security fears around Beijing’s access to American AI chips had prompted the Biden administration to bar sales of the prized semiconductors to China.
A spokesperson for Nvidia said “America should always want its industry to compete for vetted and approved commercial business, supporting real jobs for real Americans.”
The Trump administration, led by White House AI czar David Sacks, has said shipping advanced AI chips to China discourages Chinese competitors – such as heavily sanctioned Huawei – from redoubling efforts to catch up with the most advanced chip designs from Nvidia and AMD AMD.O.
Pottinger described that notion as a “fantasy.”

It was not clear how many chips would be sold to China. Reuters reported earlier on Wednesday that Chinese customs authorities told customs agents this week that Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips are not permitted to enter the country.
The regulations released on Tuesday specify that before being exported to China, chips must be reviewed by a third-party testing lab to confirm their technical AI capabilities. China also cannot receive more than 50% of the total amount of chips sold to American customers.
Nvidia will need to certify there are enough H200s in the U.S. before shipping any to China. Chinese customers must demonstrate “sufficient security procedures” and cannot use the chips for military purposes.
At least one Republican lawmaker, Congressman Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee holding the hearing, praised some guardrails contained in the regulations, describing “know your customer” provisions in the measure as “significant.”

In contrast, Jon Finer, who served as deputy U.S. national security advisor under former Democratic President Joe Biden, said the rules would create a sizeable new workload for the Commerce Department, which oversees export control policy, and would rely on Chinese buyers to make truthful statements about their own customers.
Democratic lawmakers were more explicit in their criticism of Trump’s policy shift.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trumps-greenlight-nvidia-ai-chips-china-draws-fire-lawmakers-former-officials-2026-01-14/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but expressed uncertainty over whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over.
In an exclusive Reuters interview in the Oval Office, Trump said there was a chance Iran’s clerical government could collapse, blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the stalemate in negotiations with Russia over the war in Ukraine, and dismissed Republican criticism of a Justice Department probe of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran, where thousands of people have been reported killed in a crackdown on the unrest against clerical rule. But he was reluctant on Wednesday to lend his full support to Pahlavi, the son of the late shah of Iran, who was ousted from power in 1979.
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump said. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet.
“I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.”
Trump’s comments went further in questioning Pahlavi’s ability to lead Iran, after he said last week that he had no plans to meet with him.

OPPOSITION FRAGMENTED

The U.S.-based Pahlavi, 65, has lived outside Iran since before his father was toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has become a prominent voice in the protests. Iran’s opposition is fragmented among rival groups and ideological factions – including the monarchists who back Pahlavi – and appears to have little organized presence inside the Islamic Republic.
Echoing Trump’s caution, Sanam Vakil, deputy director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program, said Pahlavi had gained prominence among some protesters and had helped mobilise them to some extent. “But I wouldn’t overstate it. It’s very hard to see how much support he has or how much support any figure has in Iran,” she said.

Trump said it is possible the government in Tehran could fall due to the protests but that in truth “any regime can fail.”
“Whether or not it falls or not, it’s going to be an interesting period of time,” he said.

Trump, who is closing out the first year of his second term in office, sat behind his massive Resolute Desk and sipped a Diet Coke during the 30-minute interview. At one point, he held up a thick binder of papers he said contained his achievements since being sworn into office on January 20, 2025.
But he sought to manage expectations for Republicans in November’s congressional midterm elections, noting that the party in power frequently loses seats two years after a presidential election.
“When you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms,” he said. “But we’re going to try very hard to win the midterms.”

‘ZELENSKIY’ MAIN IMPEDIMENT TO REACHING DEAL

Trump, who has struggled throughout his presidency to end Russia’s war in Ukraine despite campaign boasts that he could end it in a day, said Zelenskiy is the main impediment to resolving the four-year-old war.
Trump has frequently criticized both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy but seemed more downbeat once again on the Ukrainian president.
Trump said Putin was “ready to make a deal.” Asked what the holdup is, Trump said simply: “Zelenskiy.”
“We have to get President Zelenskiy to go along with it,” he said.

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS ‘SHOULD BE LOYAL’

Trump dismissed Senate Republicans who have vowed to block his Fed nominees over concerns that Trump’s Justice Department is interfering with the central bank’s traditional independence with its probe into the Fed’s Powell.
“I don’t care. There’s nothing to say. They should be loyal,” he said of his party’s lawmakers.
Trump also rejected criticism from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon that Trump’s meddling into the Fed could spike inflation.
“I don’t care what he says,” Trump said.

Trump is to meet on Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at the White House, their first in-person meeting since Trump directed the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and seized control of the country earlier this month.
“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump said of Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize last year and dedicated it to Trump. She has offered to give him her prize, but the Nobel Committee said the peace prize cannot be transferred.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-questions-reza-pahlavis-ability-garner-support-iran-2026-01-15/

India has issued its first-ever advisory asking all nationals to leave Iran as the security situation deteriorates amid fears of possible US-Israel military action. The MEA said the embassy is monitoring developments, relocating students, and exploring evacuation routes. About 10,000 Indians, mostly students, are currently in Iran.

In indications that New Delhi was not taking any chances over the developing situation in Iran, the Ministry of External Affairs issued an advisory asking all Indian nationals to leave Iran. The two-line advisory is the first time India has asked all its nationals to leave the country. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X that the government was closely monitoring the situation. “The Indian Embassy in Tehran is continuously monitoring the security situation and engaging Indian students in Iran to ensure their safety.” He added.

“In some cases, students are being relocated with the Embassy’s facilitation to safer places within Iran. Other feasible options are also under examination.”

The situation in Iran has deteriorated after President Donald Trump has actively encouraged the demonstrators against the Iranian regime. The US president, who said earlier this month that the US was “locked and loaded,” then told protesters, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”

Such remarks suggested that he could be prepared to intervene militarily in Iran. Iran expert Ambassador KC Singh, who has served in Iran, stated that recent developments suggested that it “seems like the US is prepared to intervene militarily, as the protests have failed to fracture/uproot the Iranian Islamic regime.” The former ambassador said the exit of the Israeli prime ministerial aircraft called the Wing of Zion, away from Israeli airspace was significant, as the same measure was taken before Operation “Rising Lion” which then began the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

The other measure to note here was media reports stating the US had ordered some of its personnel to leave from its AlUdeid airspace in Qatar. Israel’s aims in the region is another factor. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s pressing need for political survival could hasten military action on Iran. Israel has been roiled by protests in recent days demanding that Netanyahu step down.

Singh points out, “Netanyahu wants to dodge these protests by creating a distraction abroad. He wants to do this by waving a fist at Iran.” This war, should it come, will not be an easy one for the US or Israel. Iran has declared it will strike US bases across the region should it be attacked. Iran has ballistic missiles that are in the range of 500-1,000 kilometres, ensuring many bases are threatened. Also, as Singh points out, “Israel’s Iron Dome is not foolproof and cannot sustain a barrage of missiles fired at it.”

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/india-issues-first-ever-advisory-asking-all-nationals-to-leave-iran-amid-escalating-tensions

THE US government may have bought the mystery weapon behind Havana Syndrome in an undercover operation.

The perplexing illness that brings ringing ears, dizziness, crushing headaches and memory loss to its victims has long been unsolved.

But, the Biden Administration managed to quietly purchase the device in its final weeks in 2024, a new report by CNN claims.

Since then, the device has since been tested as Pentagon specialists look to unlock how the horrific symptoms diplomats experienced were caused.

Multiple sources told CBS News more than 1,500 American officials had reported experiencing Havana Syndrome since 2016.

Bought for millions of dollars by the Department of Homeland Security’s Investigations division, the device is portable, backpack sized and contains components with Russian origins, according to the anonymous sources.

Despite containing Russian components, there has been no evidence revealing that the device was Russian made.

Officials have reportedly struggled to understand how a device that small could cause the level of damage reported by some victims.

Testing has revealed the device emits pulsed, radio-frequency energy, however the nature of the testing remains unknown.

Investigators reportedly believe the device could be inducing Havana Syndrome symptoms.

Independent journalist Sasha Ingber and CNN revealed the government’s acquisition of the device.

It is unclear how the Biden Administration became aware of the item.

The term was derived from cases first reported by US diplomats and intelligence officers stationed in Havana, Cuba in 2016.

US officials briefed some of their findings to a congressional oversight hearing in 2025.

Victims of the syndrome have reported feeling a spate of neurological symptoms, including severe headaches and head pressure, vertigo, nausea and ringing or popping sensations in their ears.

Many have also described hearing intense high-pitched and painful sounds, which appeared to alleviate when they moved to a different location.

Some victims had symptoms so severe they were forced to leave their jobs.

Cases have since been reported from every populated continent and have spanned dozens of countries.

Some victims have spent the last decade attempting to shed light on their cases, often blaming the government for not providing proper support or specialised medical care.

There is no official recognition of the syndrome, so diagnosis and treatment can turn into an expensive process.

An initial assessment of the syndrome was completed in 2023, which found it was “very unlikely” a foreign entity was responsible for the illnesses.

The Biden Administration formally dubbed the symptoms as “Anomalous Health Incidents,” or AHIs.

The conclusion was supported in January last year, when an updated review found the majority of the intelligence community thought foreign involvement was highly unlikely.

Since then, two agencies have revised their positions, saying there was a “roughly even chance” that a foreign adversary had developed a device capable of hurting American officials and their families.

Despite this revision, the agencies did not link the device directly to the reported AHIs.

Since the device entered testing, concerns have sparked over the results of continued development of such technology.

CBS reported that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) had conducted a review of the previous investigations and was close to completion, however, was not ready to brief lawmakers or the public on its findings.

A spokesperson from the ODNI said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard “remains committed to sharing findings from her investigation into Anomalous Health Incidents with the American people.”

“However, we are not going to rush to put out incomplete information,” the spokesperson said.

They noted a team had been continuing “relentless” work on completing the assessment.

Former senior CIA intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos has spoken publicly of the symptoms he suffered after being struck in Moscow in 2017.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15784427/us-buys-mystery-havana-syndrome-weapon/

PHOTOS of Kendall Jenner’s extravagant $23 million Montecito mansion have been revealed, including horse stables and other lavish amenities.

The U.S. Sun obtained aerial shots of the supermodel’s sprawling estate, which she quietly purchased in February 2025.

The pics show the entire compound, comprised of numerous smaller houses across six acres of land.

Its Spanish architectural style features a white exterior and red-tile roofs, surrounding a massive courtyard with two giant fountains, tons of greenery, and multiple seating areas.

The property appears to be the perfect place for Kendall‘s sporty lifestyle, as it features a professional-grade equestrian facility with several stables and an outdoor riding area for the TV star, who has been riding horses since she was a child.

Despite the seemingly tranquil oasis within the gated community, the home is just a short drive from the bustling center of town, giving plenty of opportunities to socialize.

Another perk for Kendall, 29, is that the house is nestled directly beside Oprah Winfrey‘s iconic “Promised Land” estate.

The home itself has a star-studded history, as it’s been owned by several famous names in recent years, including Ellen DeGeneres, and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd and Tinder co-founder Sean Rad.

PRIVATE OASIS

The U.S. Sun exclusively reported in August that Kendall secretly bought the impressive property, originally built in the 1800s and since remodeled for a more modern look.

Kendall’s main house alone is a whopping 15,000 square feet, offering tons of privacy with its tall hedges, as well as room to entertain the rest of the Kar-Jenner gang.

Her sister, Kylie Jenner, 28, has shared some photos online with Kendall’s house being the backdrop, including one shot of her gorgeous stone chimney and massive balcony.

However, Kendall has primarily refrained from posting many shots of her stunning property, that is until last month when she shared a TikTok showcasing a day in the life of the Calvin Klein model.

The post showed pictures of Kendall with her horses, and one of a beautiful flower centerpiece on a wooden table in her black kitchen.

Kendall previously owned a Spanish-style mansion in Beverly Hills, which she purchased in 2017 for $8.5 million.

Kris and Caitlyn Jenner’s daughter is known for being much more private about her personal life than her other sisters, despite being on reality TV since her teen years.

SQUASHING RUMORS

Which is why it came as a shock to some fans when she addressed some long-standing plastic surgery rumors during a January 9th appearance on the In Your Dreams podcast.

Fans had long claimed that Kendall went under the knife to achieve her apparent physical transformation.

The reality star cleared the air and insisted that she’d “never had any plastic surgery to her face,” and admitted to only getting “Baby Botox” in her forehead.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15783834/kendall-jenner-mansion-aerial-horse-ranch-montecito-home/

FEDERAL officials say the ICE agent who killed Renee Good was left with ‘internal bleeding‘ after the chaotic Minneapolis encounter.

The Department of Homeland Security said the agent was struck in his torso and taken to the hospital following the January 7 shooting.

The fatal confrontation unfolded in a residential neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is now under FBI investigation.

Authorities have identified the agent as Jonathan Ross, who was hospitalized after the gunfire.

Ross shot Good, 37, while she was behind the wheel of her SUV.

DHS has insisted Ross was struck by Good’s vehicle as she tried to drive away from the scene.

Good’s family and local leaders have countered that she was attempting to leave the area, not attack anyone.

The New York Times analysis of the footage has also suggested Ross may not have been hit by the SUV.

DHS said Wednesday the extent of Ross’s injuries was still unclear, even as it confirmed the internal bleeding.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last week the agent was treated at a hospital, a message later echoed by President Donald Trump.

Video from the scene showed Ross walking away from the vehicle after shots were fired.

Footage also appeared to show other agents leaving the area before the investigation got underway.

DHS has said Ross feared for his life and the lives of other agents when he opened fire.

WHAT HAPPENED

Before the shooting, Good’s SUV had been stopped across the street, with video showing her waving other cars around.

Ross and other agents then got out of a truck and walked toward her.

Ross was seen moving around the SUV and filming as he approached.

As Good appeared to turn to drive away, Ross was positioned in front of the vehicle.

At that moment, Ross fired at the SUV.

One bullet struck the windshield, while two more shots went through the open driver’s side window, hitting Good.

The SUV then sped down the street and slammed into a phone pole, the reports said.

Protests flared in the hours after the shooting, as immigration enforcement continued in the Twin Cities.

Democrats at the local and federal level have demanded a full accounting of the use of force.

On Tuesday, prosecutors resigned amid reports of pressure from the Justice Department to scrutinize Good’s wife, rather than Ross’ actions.

Calls have grown for an impartial probe led by local agencies, not solely the federal government.

GOFUNDME CONTROVERSY

A GoFundMe set up for Ross has raised more than $700,000, sparking concern about money flowing to someone tied to a shooting still being investigated.

A GoFundMe spokesperson told Newsweek the company’s Trust and Safety team “is currently reviewing all fundraisers related to the shooting in Minneapolis to ensure they are compliant with our Terms of Service.”

The spokesperson added the team is “working to gather additional information from the organizer” of the fundraiser.

Billionaire Bill Ackman wrote on X: “I am big believer in our legal principal that one is innocent until proven guilty.”

“To that end, I supported the @gofundme for Jonathan Ross and intended to similarly support the gofundme for Renee Good’s family (her gofundme was closed by the time I attempted to provide support),” he added.

“The whole situation is a tragedy. An officer doing his best to do his job, and a protester who likely did not intend to kill the officer but whose actions in a split second led to her death.

Our country is stronger if we work together to resolve the complex issues that are tearing us apart.”

A letter signed by 160 members of Congress urged action, stating, “What is clear is that DHS must take immediate steps to preserve evidence, bring in unbiased investigative partners like the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension..

..and ensure the officers involved comply fully with investigators. The American public deserves the guarantee of a professional, unbiased and thorough investigation.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15782689/renee-good-minnesota-shooting-ice-agent-ross-internal-bleeding/

An illegal Venezuelan migrant was shot in the leg by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis after he allegedly fled during a traffic stop and beat the “ambushed” officer with a snow shovel Wednesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The suspect was behind the wheel when he tried to get away from federal immigration officers at around 6:50 p.m. local time, but he crashed into a parked car, according to DHS.

The migrant then tried to escape on foot and “violently assault[ed] the officer” as the two wrestled on the ground, according to an X post from the agency.

While the man continued to struggle with the officer, two other people emerged from a nearby apartment and allegedly mercilessly attacked the agent with a snow shovel and broom handle, the department said.

In the chaos, the Venezuelan migrant was able to wriggle out of the officer’s hold and also allegedly started striking him “with a shovel or broom stick,” according to the post.

The officer, “fearing for his life,” shot the Venezuelan man in the leg, DHS said.

The wounded migrant and the two alleged attackers then fled into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside, according to the agency.

Federal agents were eventually able to get inside and apprehended all three individuals.

The officer and the injured suspect were both taken to a nearby hospital, and the two attackers were taken into custody, DHS said.

The department said that the suspect they were originally apprehending is an illegal immigrant who entered the US in 2022.

Multiple sources told the Minnesota Star Tribune earlier Wednesday evening that a series of gunshots rang out after a car chase that tore through part of the Twin Cities.

KARE reported that federal agents swarmed around North Lyndale Avenue and 25th Avenue, which is near a 21-acre park, just before 8 p.m. local time.

A photographer with the outlet observed at least one ambulance leaving the area.

Angry protesters later swarmed the shooting scene and began hurling fireworks at police officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a late-night press briefing.

Cops tossed tear gas canisters at the protesters in response.

“The crowd is engaging in unlawful acts,” O’Hara said.

“I urge anyone who is at the scene to leave immediately. This is already a very tense situation and we do not need this to escalate any further,” the chief added.

Mayor Jacob Frey also slammed the destructive protesters — claiming they were taking President Trump’s “bait.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/14/us-news/minneapolis-officials-investigate-reports-of-another-shooting-involving-federal-agents/

Iran closed its airspace Wednesday to most flights amid widespread protests and tensions with the US.

The Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) warning was issued by Tehran just after 5 p.m. ET and barred all flights except international flights to and from Iran with permission, according to FlightRadar24.

The warning is valid for just over two hours.

Only five aircraft were visible over Iran’s airspace at the time the NOTAM was issued, the flight tracking website showed.

The temporary closure came after President Trump signaled that he was satisfied the Iranian regime was not executing anti-government protesters and implied US military action against Iran was not imminent.

“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping. It’s stopped. It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

“So I’ve been told that a good authority — we will find out about it. I’m sure if it happens, we’ll all be very upset… but that’s just gotten to me, the information that the killing has stopped, that the executions have stopped, they’re not going to have an execution.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/14/world-news/iran-closes-airspace-to-most-flights-as-tensions-with-us-escalate/

Vanessa and Kai Trump were spotted dressed to the nines for Tiger Woods’ massive 50th birthday bash.

The lavish soirée — said to be taking place at luxury Florida resort The Breakers on Wednesday — counted Vanessa, 48, and Kai, 18, among the high-profile guests.

In exclusive snapshots obtained by Page Six, the ex-wife of Donald Trump, Jr. rocked a form-fitting black spaghetti strap frock with a corset lace up in the back for the occasion, pairing the look with red platform heels.

Her daughter Kai, meanwhile, donned a red silk floor-length cutout gown and a cast on her left arm — she recently announced via Instagram that she had surgery on her wrist.

Both wore their hair in sleek straight styles.

The mother-daughter duo were snapped entering the upscale party, where they fêted the 82-time PGA Tour winner on his milestone birthday.

In another photo, the University of Miami student strapped a small handbag over her casted arm while making her way inside.

Snapshots from inside the bash showed suited waiters balancing plates of food as guests mingled.

Kai and Vanessa were also seen making their way — with a crowd of guests — into a room for the party while showing off their respective formalwear.

The birthday guest of honor, Woods, was also snapped at the event wearing a traditional black tuxedo.

Kai also modeled her eye-catching red dress alongside her mother in an Instagram post Wednesday evening — in one photo, she also posed solo ahead of the athlete’s big event.

Per Front Office Sports, guests were told to “wear a touch of red” in honor of the golf great’s “Sunday Red” tradition — which saw him wearing red polo shirts on each final day of competition and later inspired his own clothing label.

The outlet also reported ahead of the event that “Livin on a Prayer” rocker Jon Bon Jovi was expected to perform for roughly 300 guests, and that the menu is reportedly inspired by the golf icon’s Augusta National Gold Club Masters Champion Dinners.

The event is reportedly hosted by Woods’ TGR Foundation, and it will also be “the official launch of the nonprofit’s 30th anniversary campaign,” per the outlet.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/01/14/celebrity-news/vanessa-kai-trump-attend-tiger-woods-50th-birthday-party/

Danish and Greenlandic officials said they still have a “fundamental disagreement” with President Donald Trump over Greenland after meeting in Washington with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Iran’s protests face an information blackout, fueling a surge of AI-generated videos and recycled footage online. DW Fact check investigates how disinformation thrives when truth is hard to verify.

Iran has been witnessing anti-regime protests for more than two weeks, with demonstrations reported in several cities and towns. Verifying protest-related content has become increasingly challenging. Internet restrictions and tight control over information flows have created an information vacuum, meaning much of the footage circulating online cannot be independently confirmed.

Access to reliable information from inside Iran remains extremely limited. Foreign media outlets can barely report from within the country, and citizens documenting protests face serious risks. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported on Wednesday that at least 2,400 people have been killed in a bloody security crackdown during the latest wave of protests, while some rights groups claim the number is even higher.

Experts say this lack of access is not new but part of a long-standing strategy by the Iranian regime. Sara Bazoobandi, a senior researcher and non-resident fellow at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University in Germany, explains that internet shutdowns are a deliberate tactic to create doubt when people cannot share information.

“And for us to be confused with who is telling the truth,” Bazoobandi tells DW.

Authorities have imposed an almost total shutdown of internet and phone services. International calls were possible only intermittently after days of disruption. These constraints shape which images and videos reach audiences inside and outside the country, opening the door for disinformation and misinformation.

AI-generated videos fill the vacuum

NASA has ended Crew-11’s space stay a few weeks early due to a “lingering risk” to an astronaut’s health. The crew is now on its way back to Earth.

A SpaceX capsule departed the International Space Station (ISS) carrying four astronauts on Wednesday, in an emergency return flight due to the ailing health of a crew member.

This is the first time NASA has cut short a space crew’s mission due to a health emergency. Officials did not identify which of the four astronauts on board was facing the said issues, citing privacy concerns.

The affected crew member “was and continues to be in stable condition,” NASA official Rob Navias said.

The Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Endeavor, undocked from the ISS and began its descent orbit at about 5:20 p.m. EST (2220 GMT) and will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast after a nearly 11-hour flight.

A live NASA webcast showed the departure with the crew members strapped into their seats, seated side-by-side.

Who’s is onboard the Endevaor?

The SpaceX Crew-11 consists of two US astronauts, Zena Cardman, 38, and Mike Fincke, 58; Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, 55; and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, 39.

They had flown to the space station from Florida in August and were originally meant to stay till mid-February.

Finckle, a retired Air Force colonel and the flight’s pilot, said everyone was safe: “First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for.”

“This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/four-astronauts-exit-iss-in-first-ever-medical-evacuation/a-75511073

The US and UK are reducing the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, as US President Donald Trump considers whether to take action against Iran over its crackdown on anti-government protests.

Officials have told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the partial American withdrawal was a “precautionary measure”. The BBC understands some UK military personnel are also being removed.

A Qatari government statement said the measures reportedly being taken by the US were “in response to the current regional tensions”.

The Foreign Office has also temporarily closed the British embassy in Tehran, which will now operate remotely, a government spokesperson said.

The US embassy in Doha has advised its personnel to exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to the Al-Udeid air base.

Iran closed its airspace from 02:45 local time (22:15 GMT) on Thursday to almost all flights, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website.

The closure was initially due to last two hours, but was later extended to 08:00 local time (03:30 GMT), according to the Reuters news agency.

Several airlines have announced they will reroute flights around Iran in response, including Air India and Germany’s Lufthansa.

Air India warned that passengers could experience delays or cancellations as flights through the region were rerouted. Lufthansa issued a statement confirming its flights would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace “until further notice”.

According to rights groups, more than 2,400 anti-government demonstrators have been killed in the recent violent crackdown by the Iranian authorities.

Regarding the removal of military personnel, the Qatari government said it would continue to “implement all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of its citizens and residents as a top priority, including actions related to the protection of critical infrastructure and military facilities”.

A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson declined to comment on reports that UK personnel were being withdrawn “due to operational security”.

Al-Udeid is the largest US military base in the Middle East and about 10,000 personnel are based there, as well as about 100 UK staff. It is not clear how many will be leaving.

Earlier this week, Trump warned the US would take “very strong action” against Iran if the authorities execute protesters. Iran has said it will retaliate if attacked by the US.

On Wednesday, he said his administration had been told “on good authority” that “the killing in Iran is stopping, and there’s no plan for executions”.

When questioned by a reporter, Trump said that these were “very important sources on the other side” and that he hoped the reports were true.

The US president was also asked whether military action was now off the table, to which he replied: “We’re going to watch and see what the process is.”

The Reuters news agency, citing diplomats, reported that while some personnel had been told to leave the Al-Udeid air base, there was no immediate sign of large numbers of troops being bussed out like in the hours before an Iranian strike last year.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Donald Trump to “not repeat the same mistake that you did in June,” adding: “You know, if you try a failed experience, you will get the same result.”

He also responded to reports of a 26-year-old man whose family say he had been sentenced to death in Iran, saying that “hanging is out of the question” and there would be “no hanging today or tomorrow”.

As well as the temporary closure of the British embassy in Tehran, the US Mission to Saudi Arabia has advised its personnel and citizens to “exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to any military installations in the region”.

Italy and Poland have published statements urging their citizens to leave Iran, while Germany has issued a notice to air operators recommending that flights do not enter Tehran, citing potential risk from “escalating conflict and anti-aviation weaponry”.

Iran’s government has accused the US of seeking to “manufacture a pretext for military intervention”, with the parliament speaker warning that if the US attacked, both Israeli and US military and shipping centres in the region would become legitimate targets.

The latest protests in Iran began at the end of December following the collapse of the currency and as the country deals with soaring living costs.

They quickly widened into demands for political change and became one of the most serious challenges to the clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c701xywwxw8o

Starlink has reportedly waived monthly subscription payments for users inside Iran after its government shut down the internet last Thursday – cutting off millions of people from their families, livelihoods and access to information, during a deadly crackdown on protests.

The satellite technology has become a vital communications lifeline for some of those in the country trying to tell the outside world what has been happening on the ground in recent days.

Two people in Iran told BBC Persian their device was running on Tuesday night even though they had not been keeping up with subscription payments. The director of an organisation that helps Iranians get online also told BBC Persian that Starlink had been made free.

The satellite technology, which belongs to Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, provides internet to tens of thousands of people in Iran, despite the fact it is illegal there. Since the internet was shut down, it has become one of the last, if not the last, remaining channels for Iranians to communicate with the outside world.

The BBC has approached SpaceX to confirm it has waived the fee, but they are yet to respond.

Using the service in Iran carries a punishment of up to two years in prison and authorities have reportedly been searching for Starlink dishes to stop people from connecting to the internet.

“They’re going onto rooftops and checking the surrounding buildings,” says Parsa – not his real name – who spoke to BBC Persian using a Starlink connection.

“What people need to know is that the government is searching areas where a lot of footage has come out, so they need to be even more cautious,” he says.

The device operates like a mobile phone mast in space, using a constellation of satellites to communicate with small dishes on the ground with a built-in WiFi router.

But the device is costly and beyond the means of many in Iran – so making it free may lead to its wider use.

Speaking to Al Jazeera TV on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the internet had been cut off “after we confronted terrorist operations and realised orders were coming from outside the country”.

Iran’s Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed internet restrictions were imposed to stop foreign social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram being used “to organise violence and unrest.”

Human rights groups have condemned the blanket blackout as an abuse of power and a spokesperson for the UN’s Human rights office told the BBC the shutdown “impacts the works of those documenting human rights violations.”

So far, one human rights group has confirmed the killing of more than 2,400 protesters during the unrest, as well as almost 150 people affiliated with security forces, although these numbers are believed to be much higher.

It is difficult to gauge the true scale of bloodshed because, like other international news organisations, the BBC is not able to report from inside the country.

The internet shutdown has also made it hard to gather and verify evidence of what is happening on the ground.

“I think a lot of people are connected, but only a very small number are taking the risk of sending information out,” explains Parsa.

According to human rights organisation Witness, at least 50,000 people are using Starlink to access the internet.

Mahsa Alimardani, who works as its associate director for technology, threats and opportunities, says the Iranian authorities have tried “aggressively jamming” Starlink to stop people accessing the internet but it has not been successful. “That’s why they are resorting to physical confiscations,” she adds.

But those who are taking the risk are going to great lengths. One man who spoke to BBC Persian said he travelled almost 1,000km (620 miles) to a border area so he could use mobile networks of neighbouring countries to send video he recorded.

The scene he witnessed – of a huge number of bodies lying on the ground at a forensic medical centre in Tehran – was so distressing that he felt compelled to share it, he told the BBC.

The Iranian government has a long track record of spying on its citizens, including digitally, to tighten its grip on society.

Phishing techniques have reportedly been used to hack phones and access people’s data and Iran’s access to the internet is largely restricted to a domestic service that mimics a private intranet.

Access to Western social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram is blocked, meaning Iranians have to use virtual private networks (VPNs) in order to access them.

But despite this, Instagram is one of the most popular platforms in Iran, with an estimated 50 million users.

Though some news is being shared online, experts say the Iranian government aims to control the narrative by limiting what information gets out.

Ana Diamond, research associate at the Oxford Disinformation and Extremism Lab, says the government is weaponising information by carefully curating it.

“Such material is designed less to inform than to condition; to almost normalise casualties, especially as the Iranian government calls them rioters, eroding collective resistance, and preparing the public – both inside and outside of Iran – for escalations of violence that may be yet to come if the protests continue,” Diamond says.

Despite the dangers, Starlink has become indispensable for many Iranians communicating what is happening inside the country to the rest of the world.

“I’d rather not think about it [getting caught]. It can be very frightening,” Parsa says.

On Tuesday, Iranian intelligence forces said they had seized a large consignment of Starlink kits allegedly intended for “espionage and sabotage operations” inside the country.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r4veg0rrzo

At least 32 people have been killed and 66 others injured after a construction crane fell onto a moving train in north-east Thailand.

The crane derailed the train and crushed some of its carriages, one of which caught fire. A one-year-old and an 85-year-old are among those injured, with seven people in critical condition, say authorities.

Officials say some 171 passengers were on board the train when the accident occurred at around 09:00 local time (02:00 GMT).

Thai state railways says it is taking legal action against the construction company responsible for the crane. The Italian-Thai Development Company expressed regret, saying it would compensate families of the dead and injured.

The train had been travelling from Bangkok to north-eastern Ubon Ratchathani province when the accident occurred. It was carrying mostly students and workers travelling for school and work in other districts.

Local outlet The Nation reported that the incident occurred while the crane was lifting a large concrete section which dropped on to the train, causing several coaches to derail.

One survivor, train staff member Thirasak Wongsoongnern, told local media that he and the other passengers were thrown into the air after the crane fell on them.

An eyewitness, Maliwan Nakthon, told BBC Thai that she witnessed the moment the crane collapsed. “There were small pieces, like fragments of concrete, that started falling,” she said. “After those fell, the crane slowly slid down and hit. It struck hard, and then it came down and crushed the train.

“The whole incident took less than one minute,” she added.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is due to visit the scene later on Wednesday, called for “someone [to] be punished and held accountable” for the incident, which is being investigated.

“Accidents like this can only happen due to negligence, skipped steps, deviations from the design, or the use of incorrect materials,” Anutin said.

The crane was being used to build an overhead railway that is part of a US$5.4bn (£4bn) China-backed project to link Bangkok with neighbouring Laos, where a Chinese-built high-speed line is already running to south-western China.

Known officially as the Bangkok-Nong Khai HSR Development for Regional Connectivity, the Italian-Thai Development Company is listed as the firm in charge of the Lam Takhong-Sikhio section where the incident took place.

The State Railway of Thailand has announced that it is suing the company. The initial cost of damages for the train carriages alone is reported to be more than 100 million baht (US$3.1m).

One of Thailand’s biggest contractors, the company was responsible for the construction of a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed last March during an earthquake. Last year the company’s president and several designers and engineers were charged with professional negligence over that incident. Some have denied wrongdoing.

The Chinese embassy in Thailand said that no Chinese construction companies or workers were involved in the collapse, Chinese state media reported.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqz7v1507ro

Scientists want to use the bacteria living in your gut and mouth to help you sleep better at night.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and remember the names of those abusing them, saying help is on the way, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years.
Iran in turn accused Trump of encouraging political destabilization and inciting violence.

He said he had canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the “senseless killing” of protesters stopped and in a later speech told Iranians to “save the name of the killers and the abusers … because they’ll pay a very big price.”
An Iranian official said about 2,000 people had been killed, the first time authorities have given an overall death toll from more than two weeks of nationwide unrest.
U.S.-based rights group HRANA said that of the 2,003 people whose deaths it had confirmed, 1,850 were protesters. It said 16,784 people had been detained, a sharp increase from the figure it gave on Monday.

Asked what he meant by “help is on its way”, Trump told reporters they would have to figure that out. Trump has said military action is among the options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown.
“The killing looks like it’s significant, but we don’t know yet for certain,” said Trump upon returning to the Washington area from Detroit, adding he would know more after receiving a report on Tuesday evening about the Iran protests.
“We’ll act accordingly,” he said.
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday urged American citizens to leave Iran now including by land through Turkey or Armenia.

IRAN POINTS TO U.S. AND ISRAEL

Iranian authorities previously accused the U.S. and Israel of fomenting the unrest.
In response to Trump’s social media post that “help is on the way,” Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the U.S. president was inciting violence, threatening the country’s sovereignty and security and seeking to destabilize the government.

“The United States and the Israeli regime bear direct and undeniable legal responsibility for the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives, particularly among the youth,” he wrote in a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
Russia on Tuesday condemned “subversive external interference” in Iran’s internal politics, saying any repeat of last year’s U.S. strikes would have “disastrous consequences” for the Middle East and international security.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday he had continued to communicate with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and that Tehran was studying ideas proposed by Washington.

TRUMP WARNS AGAINST ANY EXECUTIONS

In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Trump vowed “very strong action” if Iran started hanging protesters, but again did not elaborate. “If they hang them, you’re going to see some things,” Trump said.
According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Society, hangings are common in Iranian prisons.
Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights group, has reported that a 26-year-old man, Erfan Soltani, arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, will be executed on Wednesday. Authorities had told the family that the death sentence was final, Hengaw reported, citing a source close to the family.
Reuters could not independently confirm the report and state media has not reported any death sentences so far.
Communications restrictions, including an internet blackout have hampered the flow of information in Iran. The U.N. said phone service had been restored but the internet still faced restrictions.
Holistic Resilience, a U.S. organization that works to expand information access in repressive or closed societies, said on Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service was now available for free in Iran.
The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, has posed the biggest internal challenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years and has come at a time of intensifying international pressure after Israeli and U.S. strikes last year.
The U.S. president on Monday announced 25% import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran – a major oil exporter. China, which buys much of Iran’s oil exports, swiftly criticized the move.

NO SIGNS OF FRACTURE

The protests began on December 28 over the fall in value of the currency and have grown into wider demonstrations and calls for the fall of the clerical establishment.
Iran’s authorities have taken a dual approach, cracking down while also calling protests over economic problems legitimate. So far there are no signs of fracture in the security elite that could bring down the clerical system in power since a 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iranian-mp-warns-greater-unrest-urging-government-address-grievances-2026-01-13/

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to slap a 25% tariff on countries that trade with Iran risks reopening old wounds with Beijing, Tehran’s biggest trading partner.
Iran became a flashpoint in U.S.-China ties during Trump’s 2017-21 first term as president as Washington tightened sanctions on Tehran and put China’s Huawei, accused of selling technology to the Islamic Republic, in its crosshairs.

The arrest of Meng Wenzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, in Canada at Washington’s request sparked retaliation and a hostage crisis, with bitter recriminations lingering for the remainder of Trump’s first administration.

With Iran in his sights once again, the duty would see Chinese shipments to the U.S. incurring levies exceeding 70%, higher than the effective 57.5% tariffs in place before Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a deal in October to de-escalate their trade war.
It remains unclear which countries with Iranian business links Trump might target, and he has not named China. The U.S. president has also made offhand remarks that threatened to upend U.S. foreign policy without acting on them before.
“China will call (Trump’s) bluff. I can assure you that Trump has no guts to impose the extra 25% tariffs on China, and if he does, China will retaliate and he will be punished,” said Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, “just like in Meng Wenzhou’s case.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Some Chinese experts questioned why Trump seemed intent on revisiting one of the most contentious foreign policy issues from his first term, despite having already made Beijing think twice about providing economic support to Tehran.
“China and Iran are not as close as in the public imagination,” said a Beijing-based Chinese academic who advises the foreign ministry on Iran policy, and requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to media.
China has sharply reduced Iranian imports in recent years, according to Chinese customs data, with Chinese companies wary of being sanctioned by the U.S. government. China bought just $2.9 billion of Iranian goods in the first 11 months of last year, the latest customs figures show, compared with a peak of $21 billion in 2018 during Trump’s first presidency.

That said, Beijing moves around 80% of Iran’s shipped oil through small independent refiners trading off the books to skirt U.S. sanctions over the country’s nuclear ambitions.
China’s state-backed oil majors have not done any business with Iran since 2022. Some analysts say the independents’ shipments means the total value of China’s purchases remains in the tens of billions of dollars.
“China is just an excuse, a kind of disguise for the Trump administration, to impose new pressure (on) Iran,” said Wang Jin at the Beijing Club for International Dialogue think tank.
When asked at Tuesday’s regular press conference on Trump’s tariff threat, China’s foreign ministry said that Beijing would “resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”.

HIGH STAKES

Still, Iran remains substantially bigger business for China than Venezuela, where Trump acted to curb Beijing’s stake with a commando raid to capture President Nicolas Maduro to face drug charges in the United States.
Analysts said Trump’s renewed push to cut off Iran from global trade flows is likely to deepen scrutiny of Xi’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative, where Iran is a strategic hub for the passage of Chinese goods to the Middle East.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trumps-iran-tariff-threat-risks-reopening-china-rift-2026-01-13/

Residents in Greenland’s snow-covered capital, Nuuk, expressed support for remaining part of Denmark and called for a pause in independence discussions ahead of high-level talks in Washington on Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies his interest in the Arctic island.
Greenlandic and Danish foreign ministers will meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday after renewed threats of taking control over Greenland, an autonomous territory Denmark.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterated Greenland’s commitment to Denmark, dismissing the prospect of becoming a U.S. territory.
“We face a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the U.S. and Denmark here and now, then we choose Denmark,” Nielsen told reporters in Copenhagen on Tuesday, standing alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “We stand united in the Kingdom of Denmark.”
Greenland’s political landscape appears to be shifting, with leaders and residents focusing on long-term independence rather than immediate autonomy.
“In the current circumstances, I think it would be wise for Greenland to commit to Denmark for a very, very long time and remain under the NATO security umbrella,” said Finn Meinel, a Nuuk-based lawyer.

Some Greenlanders are worried about potential U.S. intervention. Charlotte Heilmann, a pensioner in Nuuk, shared her reservations: “I can’t imagine living as an American. We are part of Denmark, and NATO, so I don’t understand why he keeps saying he wants to take our country.”
Casper Frank Moller, a tour operator, noted how U.S. threats have brought Greenlanders closer together. “Last year, some people were still focused on fast independence. But after what has happened, there’s more unity among us because we have to stand against this possible annexation. Hopefully, tomorrow’s meeting will lead to a diplomatic solution.”

‘FOR US, IT’S HOME’

Greenland has been moving towards greater self-governance since 1979. However, cabinet minister Naaja Nathanielsen, responsible for business, energy, and minerals, acknowledged there is no immediate rush.

“For others, this might be a piece of land, but for us, it’s home,” she said in London. Nathanielsen added that Greenlanders are content being part of Denmark and see themselves as allies of the U.S., not as Americans.
Trump’s administration has repeatedly claimed Greenland’s strategic importance to U.S. national security. White House officials have been discussing various plans to bring Greenland under U.S. control, including potential use of the U.S. military and lump-sum payments to Greenlanders as part of a bid to convince them to secede from Denmark.

‘THE HARDEST PART IS AHEAD’

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt had requested the upcoming meeting in Washington in response to Trump’s remarks. Rasmussen emphasized the importance of addressing disputes diplomatically. “Our aim is to move the discussion into a meeting room where we can look each other in the eye,” he said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/denmark-greenland-foreign-ministers-meet-vance-rubio-wednesday-amid-trumps-2026-01-13/

Two Ukrainians have been accused of planning sabotage attacks for Russian spy services. Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister has played down the US threat to Greenland.

The Adelaide Writers’ Week retracted an invitation to an Australian-Palestinian author, citing the the Bondi Beach attack. Dozens, including the event’s director and the former PM of New Zealand, withdrew in response.

Organizers canceled the 2026 Adelaide Writers’ Week festival on Tuesday, after some 180 international and Australian authors withdrew from the event in protest of the scrapping of an appearance by an Australian-Palestinian author and academic.

The event’s director Louise Adler, the Jewish daughter of Holocaust survivors, said she was quitting her role on Tuesday, shortly before the festival was called off altogether.

Organizers apologized to novelist and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah on Tuesday, saying it regretted how its decision was represented, but the author responded saying she rejected the “disingenuous” apology.

What led to the boycott and eventually the festival’s halt?

Organizers had announced on January 8 that they would disinvite Abdel-Fattah, because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time, so soon after Bondi.”

This was a reference to the 15 people killed in December in a shooting targeting a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that a national day of mourning would be held on January 22 to remember those killed.

Abdel-Fattah called her exclusion “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.”

The event made no connection to Abdel-Fattah and the attack at Bondi Beach, which police believe was perpetrated by a man inspired by the Islamic State militant group, except to say she was being excluded “given her previous statements.”

Born in Australia to Palestinian and Egyptian parents, Abdel-Fattah often writes about Islamophobia and had been invited to speak about her novel Discipline. The book follows two Muslims, a journalist and a university student, navigating issues of censorship in Sydney. She has been a critic of the Israeli government and an advocate for Palestinians throughout the two-year war in Gaza, perhaps most starkly in a video shared in October 2024 when she said that Israel “has and never had a right to exist.”

String of writers and contributors withdraw

Dozens of participants pulled out of the event in response, eventually including New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, former Greek Finance Minister Janis Varoufakis, Australian author Kathy Lette, Latvian-Australian former journalist Peter Greste and Pulitzer Prize-winning ‌American Percival Everett.

Three board members and director Louise Adler also resigned, with an open letter of protest by Adler published in The Guardian on Tuesday.

“The Adelaide Festival board’s decision — despite my strongest opposition — to disinvite the Australian Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide Writers’ Week weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation, where lobbying and political pressure determine who gets to speak and who doesn’t,” she wrote.

Adler also said she was ​disappointed the premier of South Australia state, Peter Malinauskas, had backed the board’s decision.

Organizers apologize but Abdel-Fattah calls the gesture ‘disingenuous’

The Adelaide Festival board apologized to Abdel-Fattah when announcing the February event would not go ahead on Tuesday.

It said it had taken the decision “out of respect for a community experiencing the pain from a devastating event,” but that it now saw that it “has created more division.”

“We also apologize to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah for how the decision was represented and reiterate this is not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse about the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation following Australia’s worst terror attack in our history,” it said.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/australia-writers-festival-called-off-amid-boycott/a-75485050

Uganda’s authorities have shut down rights groups, arrested opponents and their supporters, now they’ve turned off the internet. After 40 years in office, President Yoweri Museveni has no intention of stepping down now.

Uganda’s government has continued its harsh crackdown on dissent in the country ahead of a Thursday election that the United Nations Human Rights Office says is taking place in an atmosphere of repression and intimidation.

Recently, the Ugandan government ordered local rights groups to halt work investigating election integrity. Now, it has initiated a total internet blackout.

The blackout was confirmed by web tracker NetBlocks.

In a post on X, NetBlocks said, “Live network data show a nation-scale disruption to internet connectivity in Uganda.”

Journalists in the capital Kampala say they lost internet access after the Uganda Communications Commission ordered internet providers cut access to prevent the spread of “misinformation” and electoral fraud.

Some international phone calls were also being blocked said the journalists.

UN has been condemning pre-election abuses in Uganda for months

A November UN report claimed that Ugandan authorities began detaining ⁠hundreds of opposition supporters well ‍ahead of a January 15 election in which President Yoweri Museveni looks to extend his four-decade rule over the country.

Museveni came ⁠to power in 1986 after leading a five-year rebellion. He is currently Africa’s third-longest ruling head of state.

Museveni has changed ‌the constitution twice to remove age and term limits and his control of institutions leaves no room for an election upset in the East African country of 46 million.

The two watchdogs told to stop ‍their work this week had denounced rights ​violations ​including the arbitrary detention and torture of opposition supporters and journalists.

The UN said Friday that police and military had used live ammunition to ‍disperse peaceful rallies, made random arrests and renditioned opposition supporters ahead of the vote.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/uganda-crackdown-internet-blackout-ahead-of-vote/a-75495205

The US government has given chip giant Nvidia the green light to sell its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) processors in China, the Department of Commerce said on Tuesday.

The H200, Nvidia’s second-most-advanced semiconductor, had been restricted by Washington over concerns that it would give China’s technology industry and military an edge over the US.

The Commerce Department said the chips can be shipped to China granted that there is sufficient supply of the processors in the US.

President Donald Trump said last month that he would allow the chip sales to “approved customers” in China and collect a 25% fee.

Nvidia’s spokesperson told the BBC that the company welcomed the move, saying it will benefit manufacturing and jobs in the US.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said its revised export policy applies to Nvidia’s H200 chips, as well as less advanced processors. Chinese customers must also show “sufficient security procedures” and cannot use the chips for military uses.

The H200 chip is a generation behind Nvidia’s Blackwell processor, which is considered to be the world’s most advanced AI semiconductor and remains blocked from sale in China.

Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu told the BBC on Wednesday that Beijing has consistently opposed the “politicisation and weaponisation of tech and trade issues”.

“We oppose blocking and restricting China, which disrupts the stability of industrial and supply chains,” he said. “This approach does not serve the common interests of both sides.”

Nvidia has been caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war between the US and China – two sides of a global AI race.

Trump reversed the chip-selling restriction last July, but demanded that Nvidia pay a cut of its earnings from China to the US government.

Beijing then reportedly ordered its tech companies to boycott Nvidia’s China-bound chips and prioritise semiconductors made domestically. That move was designed to bolster China’s tech industry, though experts have consistently said that the country’s chips still lag behind the US.

Throughout 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang continually lobbied Washington to allow the sale of the firm’s high-powered chips to China, arguing that global market excess is essential for America’s competitiveness.

Some officials in the US, however, have expressed concerns that the chips would benefit Beijing’s military and hurt America’s progress in AI development.

While Beijing is likely concerned about domestic firms becoming over-reliant on Nvidia, local firms will be eager to secure H200 chips – at least until homegrown alternatives get better, said semiconductor analyst Austin Lyons.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4erx1n04lo

A foul-mouthed flier unleashed on Eric Adams at an airport, prompting the former Big Apple mayor to snap “Go f–k yourself” and warn “You’re gonna see the Brooklyn in me.”

The heated exchange, which was caught on video and posted to Reddit Tuesday, does not show what led up to the argument.

But at one point, the masked passenger tells Hizzoner, “Eric Adams, please punch me in the face. I would like if you punched me in the face.”

“Go f–k yourself…I’m not the mayor anymore,” Adams replied.

The pair got into it while getting off the flight in Dallas.

“You’re gonna see the Brooklyn in me,” the former NYPD captain, 65, snaps as he leans into the woman on the skybridge – prompting the passenger to push him out of her way.

It’s not immediately clear why Adams was in Texas.

On Monday, the one-term mayor, who was born in Brownsville, was in Manhattan announcing his next gig — tackling antisemitism with cryptocurrency.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/13/us-news/eric-adams-tells-heckler-go-f-k-yourself-as-ex-nyc-mayor-gets-booed-at-airport-youre-gonna-see-the-brooklyn-in-me/

Kiefer Sutherland was arrested in Los Angeles following an alleged altercation with a rideshare driver.

The LAPD confirmed to Page Six on Tuesday that officers responded to a call early Monday regarding an alleged assault involving a rideshare driver near Sunset Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood.

LAPD, who later identified the suspect as Sutherland, alleges the actor “entered a rideshare vehicle, physically assaulted the driver (the victim), and made criminal threats toward the victim.”

Officers arrested Sutherland for criminal threats.

LAPD noted the alleged victim did not sustain any injuries requiring medical treatment at the scene.

Documents obtained by Page Six on Tuesday confirmed that the “24” star was arrested and booked on Monday with a bail amount set at $50,000.

He was released at 11:30 PM local time the same day, and the Emmy winner is set to appear in court on Feb. 2.

NBC 4 News in Los Angeles was the first to report the news on Tuesday.

A rep for the actor did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

This isn’t the “Lost Boys” actor’s first brush with the law — Sutherland was previously charged with drunk driving in Los Angeles in September 2007 after failing a field sobriety test.

He was released on $25,000 bail at the time, and the actor pleaded no contest to a DUI charge and was sentenced to 48 days in jail, according to People.

He also faced assault charges after allegedly head-butting fashion designer Jack McCollough in a bizarre 2009 incident in New York following a Metropolitan Museum of Art fundraiser.

McCollough and Sutherland later issued a joint statement — which included an apology by the “Stand By Me” star — and officials dropped charges in the incident, per CNN.

“I am sorry about what happened that night and sincerely regret that Mr. McCollough was injured,” Sutherland said in the statement, with McCollough responding, “I appreciate Mr. Sutherland’s statement and wish him well.”

The “Young Guns” actor has faced a challenging couple of years. His father, Hollywood icon Donald Sutherland, died at the age of 88 in 2024. The actor called his father “one of the most important actors in the history of film” in a social media statement.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/01/13/celebrity-news/kiefer-sutherland-arrested-for-alleged-assault/

US President Donald Trump was caught on camera saying “f**k you” and flashing his middle finger at a heckler during a visit to a Ford manufacturing plant in Detroit. The man, a worker there, allegedly shouted “pedophile protector,” referencing the Epstein files controversy. The viral clip sparked backlash online, though the White House defended Trump’s response as justified.

US President Donald Trump was caught on camera in a heated confrontation with a man during his visit to a Ford manufacturing plant on Tuesday, triggering widespread backlash after the video went viral on social media. The footage, first shared by TMZ, shows the president engaging in an angry exchange, during which he appeared to hurl abuses and make an obscene gesture at the individual.

The video shows Trump pausing as someone in the crowd shouts at him. Moments later, the president appears to mouth the words “f**k you” toward the man. As he resumes walking, Trump is seen raising his middle finger in the direction of the heckler before turning to wave at other attendees present at the event. The brief but explosive moment was quickly clipped and circulated widely online, drawing sharp reactions from both critics and supporters.

According to TMZ, the man who confronted Trump was a worker at the plant and allegedly shouted ‘pedophile protector’ at the president. The remark appeared to reference the late Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted child sex offender whose long-awaited files were recently released by the Trump administration.

However, the documents reportedly contained extensive redactions, leading to public anger and accusations of a lack of transparency. The delays and partial disclosures surrounding the Epstein files have fuelled frustration, with critics accusing the administration of shielding powerful individuals.

White House Terms Trump’s Reaction ‘Appropriate’

An “attempted murder” case in Bangladesh naming ousted PM Sheikh Hasina and 112 others has collapsed after investigators failed to trace the alleged victim or verify any core claims in the complaint. Even as the police are now seeking to drop the charges, they said they were under “pressure” to continue with the case. This substantiates what Hasina’s Awami League said were “ghost cases” and the political pressure on law enforcement officers in the Yunus regime.

An attempted murder case filed during the 2024 Bangladesh protests against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 112 others has unravelled after investigators failed to locate the alleged victim or substantiate the details that were provided as part of the complaint. Though the police want to drop the charges, they are under political pressure not to do so.

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), which took over the probe from local police, has told a Dhaka court that the case was riddled with “factual inaccuracies”, ranging from a missing victim to fake identity documents to a complainant who could not be traced at his own stated address. Yet, even as the PBI recommended dropping charges, it acknowledged that it was facing “pressure” over its findings, which would clear the names of Sheikh Hasina and 112 others, including Awami League leaders Sajeeb Wazed Joy (Hasina’s son) and Obaidul Quader, from the case of the “attempted murder”, reported Bangladeshi media outlet, BDNews24.

The episode sheds light on the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration, which came to power promising justice and institutional reform after the 2024 protests. While the PBI’s stance signals that it is resisting the politically convenient prosecutions, its claim of “pressure” suggests a broader retributive political climate where law enforcement is expected to deliver cases against the Awami League regime, even when evidence does not hold.

After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime and Muhammad Yunus taking over, scores of Awami League leaders were booked in what many, including the Hasina-led party, see as arbitrary and politically motivated cases under an Islamist-backed Yunus administration.

The arbitrary nature of such bookings of Awami League members came into focus recently after renowned musician Proloy Chaki, who was linked to the party, died in a hospital while in police custody on Sunday. His son, Sony Chaki, said his father was arrested despite not being named in any case at the time. “He was later shown arrested in an explosives case related to the August 4 violence,” Sony Chaki was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi daily The Daily Star.

‘ATTEMPTED MURDER’ CASE AGAINST HASINA IN BANGLADESH WHOSE VICTIM COULD NOT BE FOUND

The case that has unravelled was filed at Dhaka’s Dhanmondi Police Station on September 3, 2024, by a man identifying himself as Md Sharif, a resident of the city’s Hazaribagh Tannery area.

He alleged that his younger brother, Shahed Ali, 27, had been injured in an “attempted murder” during the protests on August 4, near Meena Bazar at Dhanmondi 27. The FIR, as was the pattern in most such cases after Yunus’s takeover, predictably named 113 accused, including Sheikh Hasina.

Nine other people, described as students of Dhaka College and City College, were also listed as injured. However, just the names of those nine were provided, without addresses or medical records, reported Dhaka-based news outlet, JagoNews24.

Local police initially arrested four suspects. The investigation was later handed over to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).

The PBI is a specialised investigation agency of Bangladesh. It handles complex, sensitive and high-profile cases, often taking over probes from local police when greater expertise or neutrality is required. The PBI reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs and functions as a national-level investigative body in Bangladesh.

BANGLADESH AGENCY JUNKS CASE AGAINST HASINA SAYING IT WAS ‘FUNDAMENTALLY UNRELIABLE’

In a statement issued on Tuesday, after months of media and social media scrutiny, the PBI said it had submitted a final report to court on November 5, citing “factual errors” in the case. However, details only emerged after the PBI’s remarks were revealed recently.

The most damaging finding was that the alleged victim could not be found.

Investigators discovered that “no person named Shahed Ali had ever lived at the address mentioned in the FIR” and that he was not, in fact, the complainant’s brother. Verification showed the National ID number cited in the case was fake and not linked to any registered mobile number, according to BDNews24.

The FIR also claimed Shahed ran a business at Shimanto Square. But the PBI, after enquiring with the market committee and carrying out on-site checks, found “no such person”. College authorities, meanwhile, could not verify the identities of the other nine alleged victims due to the absence of full details.

Despite repeated notices, the complainant failed to produce any victim or provide complete and accurate details, the PBI said, adding that evidence from the alleged crime scene showed that “no such incident had occurred at the stated time and place”, noted the BDNews24 report.

On this basis, the agency concluded that the case was “fundamentally unreliable”. If the case itself was “fundamentally unreliable”, it inevitably raises the question of what basis, if any, existed for booking and arresting people in it in the first place.

Since her ouster in August 2024, Sheikh Hasina has been named in over 225 legal cases in Bangladesh, including more than 130 murder charges and several allegations of crimes against humanity.

On November 17, 2025, she received her first major conviction when the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death for her role in the violent crackdown on student protesters. Then in November 2025, she was convicted in three corruption cases related to land allocation irregularities, resulting in a 21-year prison sentence.

COMPLAINANT VANISHED, FAILED TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE; INVESTIGATORS EXPOSE FAKE IDENTITY, ADDRESS

According to court and investigation sources cited by JagoNews24, even the complainant proved elusive.

At the Hazaribagh address he had provided, the landlord said no one by that name lived there. Verification of his National ID revealed his real name to be Shariful Islam, son of Sirajul Islam, from Mandari in Lakshmipur Sadar, where locals also failed to recognise him.

The mobile number given in the FIR was mostly unreachable, though his WhatsApp account occasionally appeared active.

When investigators finally contacted him and met near Dhanmondi Lake, he was asked to produce the alleged victim and medical documents. He failed to do either. No medical papers were submitted with the FIR.

BANGLADESH’S PBI ‘FACING PRESSURE’ ON HASINA CASE. WHY IT MATTERS

Even as it recommended clearing Hasina and 112 others in the case, the PBI admitted it was “facing pressure” over the report. The agency insisted it is investigating all anti-Hasina protest-related cases “with sincerity”.

It said evidence had been found in 17 general register cases, leading to charge sheets, and that reports had been filed in 67 complaint register cases where incidents were proven.

Given these circumstances, and in the absence of any credible evidence or testimony to back the allegations, the investigation officer recommended that Sheikh Hasina and the remaining 112 accused be acquitted in the final report submitted to the court.

The next hearing in the collapsed attempted murder case is scheduled for February 3.

The case essentially substantiates what the Awami League has repeatedly alleged and accused Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of. The Hasina-led party described these indiscriminate cases against its members as the weaponisation of the legal system through false lawsuits, “ghost cases”, and mass arrests targeting their activists.

The Awami League has said that under the Yunus regime a broader pattern of political persecution emerged, with at least 2,264 cases filed across Bangladesh in the three months leading up to October 2025. These cases led to over 32,000 political arrests, including former ministers, MPs and senior bureaucrats, the party said.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/bangladesh-sheikh-hasina-pbi-agency-attempted-murder-case-victim-not-found-muhammad-yunus-2851394-2026-01-14

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it has identified the misuse of Grok to generate and disseminate harmful content.

Malaysia’s communications regulator said on Tuesday (Jan 13) that it will take legal action against social media platform X due to concerns over user safety in relation to artificial intelligence feature Grok.

The generative AI chatbot Grok has sparked a global backlash by allowing users to create and publish sexualised images, prompting authorities around the world to take action against xAI, the Elon Musk-led firm behind the chatbot.

Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily blocked Grok over the weekend, while Britain’s media regulator on Monday launched an investigation into Musk’s X.

Ofcom is probing X to determine whether ‍sexually intimate deepfakes produced by Grok violated ⁠its ‍duty to protect people in the UK from content that could be illegal, under the country’s Online Safety Act framework.

In France, government ministers said they had referred sexually explicit Grok-generated content circulating on ⁠X to prosecutors and also alerted French media regulator Arcom to check the platform’s compliance with the European Union’s Digital Services Act.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it has identified the misuse of Grok to generate and disseminate harmful content, including obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive and non-consensual manipulated images.

“Content allegedly involving women and minors is of serious concern. Such conduct contravenes Malaysian law and undermines the entities’ stated safety commitments,” the commission said in a statement.

xAI replied to a Reuters email seeking comment with what seemed to be an automated response: “Legacy Media Lies.”

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Malaysia’s communications regulator said it served notices to X and xAI this month to remove the harmful content but said no action has been taken by the firms.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has strict laws governing online content, including a ban on obscene and pornographic materials.

Malaysian authorities consider online gambling, scams, child pornography and grooming, cyberbullying and content related to race, religion and royalty as harmful.

GLOBAL REACTION

Elsewhere, Germany’s media ‍minister Wolfram Weimer called on the European Commission to take legal steps, saying EU rules provided tools to tackle illegal content and alleging the problem risked turning into the “industrialisation of sexual harassment”.

Italy’s data protection authority warned that using AI tools to create “undressed” deepfake imagery of real people without consent could amount to serious privacy violations and, in some cases, criminal offences.

Swedish political leaders have also condemned Grok-generated sexualised “undressing” content after reporting that imagery involving Sweden’s deputy prime minister was produced from a user prompt.

The European Commission has extended a retention order sent to X last year to retain and preserve all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of 2026, amid concern over Grok-generated sexualised “undressed” images.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/grok-elon-musk-malaysia-take-legal-action-against-x-over-ai-concerns-5855436

Day trippers and tourists might be returning, but merchants in China’s northeastern Suifenhe town tell CNA the long-awaited spending boom has yet to materialise.

Li Penglin wasn’t planning to make history. He happened to be scrolling through news reports in December when a headline caught his eye: Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved visa-free entry for Chinese tourists.

The next morning, Li was at the border.

The 27-year-old, who works in China’s e-sports industry, lives in Suifenhe, where he also grew up – a county-level city in Heilongjiang province in northernmost China, located merely kilometres away from the border with Russia.

Curiosity drove him to try his luck, Li said – and he wanted to see whether the policy had taken effect.

His arrival took immigration officers by surprise, he added. Phone calls were made and several checks were done before officials gave the green light.

He became the first Chinese national to enter Russia under the new visa-free arrangement – a claim he later relayed to CNA and said border officials had repeated to him.

For Li, the trip wasn’t about making a statement but about satisfying a familiar pull. He had visited Russia several times before and said he was drawn to its food and culture.

“It feels different from China. The food, the streets, the atmosphere – it all feels distinct and closer to that of Europe,” he told CNA.

“It’s just minutes away, but the experience is authentic and different.”

This time, his destination was Grodekovo station in Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai – a modest Russian border town accessible by a 30-minute bus ride from the Suifenhe checkpoint.

Interactions with locals felt easy and friendly, Li said.

His quiet crossing reflects a larger shift unfolding along China’s northeastern edge.

After Beijing began visa-free entry to Russian citizens in September – and with reciprocal travel now running both ways since December – Suifenhe has become frontline testing grounds of warming Chinese-Russian ties – how they are translating into movement, trade and realities on the ground.

Among China’s landlocked neighbours, Russia is the only country to have reciprocated recent visa-free access.

Another comparable policy was visa-free travel by land with Kazakhstan – rolled out in late 2023.

Russia’s opening, however, comes against the backdrop of its ongoing war with Ukraine, sanctions and a deeper strategic tilt between Beijing and Moscow.

Since the war in Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed, Russia’s pivot east towards China has reshaped daily life in Suifenhe – from the surge in car exports to a rise in Russian shoppers seeking goods and services no longer easily available at home.

In 2023, the Chinese border city handled around 21.5 billion yuan (US$3.07 billion) in trade with Russia – more than one-fifth of Heilongjiang’s Russia-related trade.

Overall China-Russia trade surged in 2023, reaching a record US$240.1 billion – driven by Russia’s pivot away from Western markets and its increasing use of yuan for transactions.

Trade reached new highs of US$244.8 billion in 2024, according to China’s customs data – driven by Russia’s increased demand for Chinese-manufactured goods like cars and electronics.

Against that backdrop, Suifenhe’s Russia-linked trade in 2023 amounts to roughly 1.27 per cent of the bilateral total.

Although Suifenhe’s share of overall China-Russia trade is in line with expectations for a border city, its role is more pronounced in specific segments.

A report noted that in 2023, cargo throughput at the Suifenhe port accounted for about 65 per cent of Heilongjiang province’s total, while its trade with Russia made up nearly 40 per cent of the province’s non-oil Russia-related trade – highlighting the city’s importance as a key hub for general merchandise and non-energy trade along the China-Russia border.

But the effects of this geopolitical alignment have been uneven in Suifenhe.

Russian visitors are returning. Chinese tourists are crossing over more spontaneously. Businesses from car exporters to coal traders have clustered along the border.

Yet shopkeepers and traders say the long-awaited boom has not arrived as suddenly as many have hoped.

Policies open doors but spending power, logistics and broader economic pressures ultimately determine what actually passes through.

A TOWN SHAPED BY CHINA-RUSSIA TIES

Suifenhe is one of the closest Chinese land gateways to Russia.

Perched on China’s northeastern edge, it takes less than 20 minutes to reach the border from the city centre.

Geography has long defined the town’s purpose. Rail links tied it into cross-border commerce as early as the late Qing dynasty, and that legacy endures today.

With a local economy closely linked to its northern neighbour, the town remains one of China’s most important trade gateways with Russia.

Imports – dominated by timber, coal, fertiliser and seafood – totalled roughly 16.8 billion yuan. Exports of machinery, textiles, daily goods, fruits and vegetables reached 8.8 billion yuan.

Russia’s imprint is visible across the local economy. More than 2,800 foreign trade enterprises are registered in Suifenhe, about 80 per cent of them engaged in Russia-related business.

The city’s comprehensive bonded zone handled roughly 4.2 billion yuan in trade in 2023 – with more than 90 per cent linked to Russia. Much of that trade moves by rail.

Suifenhe also hosts one of China’s largest rail ports to Russia, with annual capacity reaching millions of tonnes.

Rail freight volumes reached about 8.5 million tonnes in 2023 – mostly coal and timber, while road ports handled another 450,000 tonnes of goods, according to China Railway Harbin Group figures.

Entire industries have grown around this cross-border flow. Suifenhe imports nearly 4 million cubic metres of Russian timber annually – nearly 30 per cent of China’s total timber imports from Russia – supporting a local wood-processing sector worth roughly 6.5 billion yuan.

Cross-border e-commerce remains small but is growing. A pilot China-Russia cross-border e-commerce clearance platform processes tens of thousands of parcels a day for Russia-related orders.

Retail and tourism are similarly Russia-facing. Before the pandemic, Suifenhe received more than 300,000 Russian visitors annually. Arrivals recovered to around 120,000 in 2023 and accelerated after China’s visa-free trial for Russians and the easing of cross-border restrictions.

The city is dotted with Russian-language signs, restaurants and shops. Market regulators say more than 500 stores sell Russian food and consumer goods, with annual sales estimated to be billions of yuan.

Supporting services – from currency exchange outlets and ruble settlement banks to Russian-language legal and logistics consultants – have grown alongside demand.

For Wang Jianpeng, president of the Suifenhe Authentic Russian Goods Import Association, the change is unmistakable.

“Our association grew from 20 or 30 members a decade ago to more than 100 now,” he told CNA, adding that the overall volume of Russia-linked imports and distribution “has definitely increased”.

But Wang is cautious. “When the exchange rate moves, the market can grow – or disappear,” he said.

FUSS-FREE JOURNEYS ON A WHIM

Since 2023, Beijing and Moscow have elevated bilateral cooperation across trade, transport and cultural exchanges.

When President Xi Jinping met Putin in Moscow on May 8, 2025, both leaders singled out people-to-people ties as a core pillar of the relationship.

On the ground, visa-free travel, alongside expanded trade and transport links, has turned day trips and short visits – that once required careful planning – into journeys that can be made on a whim.

If trade figures and freight volumes show how closely Suifenhe is bound to Russia, the streets show how that relationship is lived.

Rather than mass tourism, the border is seeing a continuation – practical travellers making short, targeted shopping trips and even grocery runs, students and athletes on brief stays, families on day trips, and traders moving goods.

Among them is Anna Ulchenko, a 37-year-old school teacher from Vladivostok. She travelled to Suifenhe to stock up on construction fittings and household items to rebuild her home.

Even after factoring in transport and shipping, she said, Chinese prices still remain attractive.

“Many things are still around 30 to 50 per cent cheaper here,” she said – a steal even if it meant enduring winter cold that dipped to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Over the past year, the Russian ruble has strengthened by more than 20 per cent against the Chinese yuan, narrowing the price gap that once drew bargain hunters.

But for Ulchenko, availability matters as much as cost. “In Russia, the selection is limited,” she said. “Here, Chinese merchants will do their utmost to satisfy your needs.”

Her recent trip to China was also social. She travelled with her son and a family friend’s child. “It’s a good break,” she said. “We shop, we eat, we spend time (together).”

Another Russian traveller, who wanted to only be identified by her first name Elena, makes trips to Suifenhe every month.

The 33-year-old visits friends, stocks up on essentials and uses local medical services like dentist and clinical visits. “Medical technology is very good and prices are at least 30 per cent cheaper,” she told CNA.

“From registration to treatment, (there are also) staff who speak Russian who make you feel at ease,” she added.

Younger travellers combine sports and shopping. Viktor Zolotukhin, a Russian university student, was recently in Suifenhe for a skiing competition and used the trip to buy clothes and gifts. “Things are simply more value for money here,” he said. “Even small purchases add up.”

He also noted how some local Chinese merchants were accepting Russian rubles, as part of an experimental pilot.

“You can pay in rubles,” Zolotukhin said. “That makes shopping easier.”

NEW BORDER ECONOMY

If ruble payments and visa rules have made short trips easier, the deeper shift lies in what now moves across the border – and why.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the wave of Western sanctions that followed, demand has shifted eastward.

The town of Suifenhe has emerged as a node in that reconfigured supply chain.

One of the most visible changes is the surge in vehicle exports.

“Unfortunately, the car industry in Russia is not as well developed as in other countries,” said Igor Sadov, a Russian interpreter working for a foreign firm with a branch in Suifenhe.

He told CNA that many Western brands left the Russian market “after sanctions were introduced against Russia”.

Options were “very limited”, he said, and China’s auto industry is “mature and innovative”. “For customers who wanted more options, they look to China,” Sadov said.

Data from the China Automobile Dealers Association shows that China exported about 420,000 used vehicles to Russia in 2023 – more than five times the previous year – with exports remaining high into 2024.

Manzhouli, also located on the border with Russia and near Mongolia, has been one of the main gateways for used car exports, handling more than 60 per cent of shipments in 2023.

But Suifenhe and other border towns have increasingly become feeders and service hubs along the same corridor.

Infrastructure is China’s key advantage, said Sadov.

“There is a complete system here – vehicle inspection, certification, logistics,” he added.

“Companies can focus on orders. The rest is in place.”

That system, however, depends on labour willing to endure long hours and difficult conditions.

Wang, a 50-year-old truck driver hauling vehicles for export, said he signed up after seeing job recruitment adverts. A former farm worker, he said this was only his third run.

Each trip takes six to eight hours each way, often through freezing winter conditions and terrain, he said.

Language barriers and customs procedures also add to the strain.

“It’s very cold, the roads are tough, and language is a big problem,” he said, adding that he often “struggles” to communicate with customs officers and port staff.

“Many drivers quit. That’s why demand for (new) drivers remains high.”

Energy flows have followed a similar pivot. As European buyers closed off, Russia redirected coal and crude eastward.

China has become a major buyer of Russian coal and crude, according to customs and international energy trackers.

That shift has fuelled the rapid growth of small coal trading firms in northeast Chinese border cities and towns.

Xing, a Russian coal seller operating out of nearby Dongning, said competition has intensified over the past year.

“Many new coal companies have been set up,” he said. “Everyone is chasing the same Russian supply now.”

For traders such as Wang Jianpeng, the new border economy presents both opportunity and pressure.

“Volumes have increased but volatility is a constant risk,” he said. “Exchange-rate swings and rising costs can quickly erase (profit) margins.”

The border economy that has formed around cars, coal, timber and cross-border retail was not the product of long-term regional planning – but of geopolitical shock.

Sanctions, supply-chain dislocations and diplomatic alignment have opened new channels.

But workers, small traders and logistics firms who populate those channels face thin margins, high turnover and shifting regulations.

WHY THE BOOM HAS NOT RETURNED

And yet, the reopening of crossings and the emergence of new trade has not produced the instant, town-wide boom many expected. On the ground, merchant optimism is tempered by caution.

Zhou Rimin, who runs a spectacles shop in Qingyun shopping complex, arrived in Suifenhe from Jiangxi in the late 1990s – riding an earlier wave of Russian trade.

“Back then, buses would come one after another,” he recalled.

“Russian visitors were excited by Chinese products because Russia’s light and medium manufacturing industries were weak,” he said.

“Goods such as spectacles had more variety and were cheaper here. I used to restock popular frames every two weeks.”

Russia’s economy has been dominated by energy, raw materials and heavy industry, while light manufacturing – clothing, household goods, consumer electronics – lags behind China’s capacity – a contrast repeatedly noted by international institutions like the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

But advantage no longer guarantees sales, said Zhou.

Visitor numbers never fully recovered after the pandemic and the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

“Even after visa-free travel started, arrivals haven’t come back the way people hoped,” he said.

“There are barely any customers.”

The slowdown is reflected in rental prices.

A local tailor, identified only by his surname Wang, said monthly rent once peaked at about 500,000 yuan during the boom years.

Today, after renegotiations and landlord concessions, it remains below 30,000 yuan.

“The size of the rent cut mirrors the drop in sales,” he said. “Those who do come are spending less.”

Many merchants point to a weaker and more cautious Russian consumer.

While the ruble has strengthened against the yuan over the past year, it remains far below levels seen before 2014 – when Russia was first hit by Western sanctions following the annexation of Crimea.

Combined with sanctions, rising costs and wage pressures, that has shrunk shopping baskets.

“People are choosing lower-value items and are thinking carefully before buying,” Wang said.

“Their wages haven’t really gone up, and the economy in Russia isn’t good.”

Another problem is the spread of counterfeit goods.

Zhang Yanyan, who runs a Russian restaurant in Suifenhe and also operates a hotel in Vladivostok, said renewed interest in Russian products had produced a flood of imitation “Russian” goods in markets across the border.

“There’s been so much publicity that some people avoid buying Russian products because they fear fakes,” she said.

“Authentic importers suffer delays and extra scrutiny when counterfeit goods proliferate.”

The problem has drawn regulatory attention. Chinese market authorities launched inspections in several border cities to clamp down on shops falsely labelling goods as Russian, while Russian diplomatic missions in China have repeatedly warned consumers about counterfeits.

For legitimate importers, this added scrutiny means extra checks, seizures and delays – all of which eat into already thin margins.

For Wang Jianpeng, the head of the association that represents many of these traders, the picture is clear: visa-free travel has reopened doors, but it cannot, on its own, recreate the old conditions that once powered Suifenhe’s retail boom.

“Movement has returned but it doesn’t automatically mean consumption,” he said.

BETTING ON THE LONG GAME

The local response in Suifenhe is pragmatic. Many merchants and residents are recalibrating their expectations, spreading risk and betting on steady gains rather than a sudden surge.

For Wang Jianpeng, one practical change stands out: cheaper transport.

Cross-border bus services are limited and ticket prices remain high with few operators. “There’s no real competition right now, so prices stay stiff,” he said.

“If authorities can help bring in more operators and lower fares, it would directly encourage more people to come. That would really help tourism here.”

That logic has pushed some young locals to return.

Zhao Xian, who spent seven years working in Beijing in government-related roles, returned to Suifenhe with his wife and opened a cafe in May 2025.

He hasn’t seen tourists arriving in large numbers, even with the new visa-free travel arrangements, but he remains hopeful.

China is “opening further to the north and far east”, he said – creating “real opportunities”.

Foot traffic has been gradually rising. “From almost no tourists, numbers have been slowly increasing,” he said.

“Young people are returning because they see opportunities. Culture follows the economy.”

Zhao remains realistic about timelines.

“Industrial parks don’t become economies overnight. Policy turning into economic results takes time,” he said.

Local authorities are taking action. In December, Suifenhe’s government rolled out several initiatives aimed at Russian visitors, part of a broader effort to convert policy momentum into sustained economic activity.

These included a streamlined scheme allowing Russian tourists to rent cars more easily for self-driving within the city, as well as the opening of a new art gallery and a snow-ski compound targeted mainly at travellers from Russia.

For Zhang Yanyan, the timing could not be better.

Her friend Aida, 62, moved to Suifenhe from Vladivostok two years ago and now helps out in Zhang’s restaurant. She has adapted well to life in China and says Suifenhe is her “second home.”

“I am used to living here and meeting Chinese people in the restaurant,” Annie said. “I hope Suifenhe becomes lively again as China-Russia ties continue to improve. More people-to-people policies will benefit ordinary people on both sides.”

Some businesses are adapting their models.

Retailers that once relied on bulk tourist spending now mix wholesale services for Russian merchants, online order fulfilment and targeted promotions.

Car export firms have diversified their services, expanding into logistics, inspection and certification.

“When people (learn of) policy changes, they make choices to travel, order and invest,” said trade association head Wang Jianpeng.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-russia-border-town-suifenhe-economy-geopolitics-5848611

Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid amid freezing temperatures in an apparent snub to U.S.-led peace efforts as Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor approaches the four-year mark.

Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said.

The daytime temperature in Kyiv, which has endured freezing temperatures for more than two weeks, was minus 12 degrees C (about 10 degrees F), with streets covered in ice and the rumble of generators heard throughout the capital.

Kyiv has grappled with severe power shortages for days, although Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday night’s strikes caused the biggest electrical outage the city has faced so far.

Kyiv residents huddle for warmth

More than 500 residential buildings remained without central heating Tuesday. Throughout the city, bare trees were weighed down with icicles and snow was piled up next to sidewalks.

Olena Davydova, 30, charged her phone at what is called a ”Point of Invincibility” shelter in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district. The government-built temporary installations, often large tents on the sidewalk, provide food, drinks, warmth and electricity.

Davydova said she had been without power for nearly 50 hours. That forced her to adopt some new routines: sleeping in one bed with her child and two cats, storing fresh food on the balcony, and using candles after dark.

She says she is taking the changes in stride. “I still have enough patience. I’m not reacting to this in a very emotional way,” she told The Associated Press.

Elsewhere, friends and relatives gathered in apartments still with power or hot water, at least temporarily, to charge their phones, take showers, or share a warm drink.

Klitschko ordered the city to provide one hot meal per day to needy residents. He also announced that workers in the city’s water, heating and road maintenance services would receive bonuses for working “day and night” to restore critical infrastructure.

US calls out ‘inexplicable’ Russian escalation

Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.

On Monday, the U.S. accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting at a time when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.

Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.

Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”

The attack in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.

In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.

2025 was the deadliest year for Ukrainian civilians

Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022 as Russia intensified its aerial barrages behind the front line, according to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country.

The war killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in Ukraine — 31% higher than in 2024, it said.

“The sharp increase in long-range attacks and the targeting of Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure mean that the consequences of the war are now felt by civilians far beyond the front line,” Danielle Bell, the agency’s head, said in a statement Monday.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drone-missile-attack-aa7d5c2e54619fefabab72165444f8e3

The Trump administration’s decision to open a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell drew condemnation from former Fed chiefs and a chorus of criticism from key members of Trump’s Republican Party on Monday, following an unusually sharp public ​rebuke from Powell calling the move a “pretext” to win presidential influence over interest rates.
The investigation, revealed late on Sunday when Powell said the Fed had received subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department, was approved and started by Jeanine Pirro, ‌the U.S. Attorney in Washington and an ally of President Donald Trump, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Neither Attorney General Pam Bondi nor Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was briefed about the decision to subpoena the Fed last week, one of the sources added.
Pirro, in a statement Monday evening, said the Justice Department took legal action because the Federal Reserve had ignored requests to discuss cost overruns in a project to renovate two historical buildings at its headquarters.
“This office makes decisions based on the merits, nothing more and nothing less,” Pirro added on X.
The threat of indictment, ostensibly focused on comments Powell made to Congress about the building renovation project, sent rates on longer-term U.S. Treasury bonds up, as investors parsed what a less independent Fed could mean for inflation and monetary policy.

If amplified, such a market reaction could constrain Trump’s efforts to reshape the Fed, considered the ‌most influential central bank in the world and a cornerstone of the world financial system. A rise in long-term borrowing costs could also backfire against Trump’s efforts to address broad concerns about “affordability.”
The independence of ​central banks, at least in setting rates in order to control inflation, is considered a central tenet of robust economic policy, insulating monetary policymakers from short-term political considerations and allowing them to focus on longer-term efforts to keep prices relatively stable.
On Monday, former Fed chairs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan joined with former government economic policy leaders from both political parties in raising the alarm.

“This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly,” ‍they wrote. Global central bankers including the chiefs of the French and Canadian central banks publicly offered solidarity.
U.S. Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee that vets presidential nominees for the Fed, called the move a “huge mistake” on Sunday and said he would oppose any Trump nominees to the Fed, including whoever is named to succeed Powell as central bank chief, “until this legal matter is fully resolved.”
He was joined on Monday in condemning the development by fellow Banking Committee member Kevin Cramer and Senator Lisa Murkowski, who wrote on X that “the stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve ⁠loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of Powell’s more strident critics usually, on Monday said the Justice Department’s use of a criminal statute looked like a “heavy lift” and that she did not see any criminal ‍intent.
“We need this like we need a hole in the head,” quipped Senator John Kennedy, also on the banking committee.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Trump on Sunday that the investigation “made a mess” and could be bad for financial markets, Axios reported on Monday, citing two sources.
The rise in longer-term rates ‌notwithstanding, market reaction was ‌relatively muted. Gold hit a record high and the dollar fell. Major U.S. stock indexes notched record closing highs after gains from artificial intelligence stocks and Walmart.
“The market looks to be taking substantial reassurance from the fact that Powell’s decision to call out the attack on Fed independence has triggered a backlash in the Senate that will be reinforced by public support from former Fed chairs and Treasury Secretaries,” wrote Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha.
Powell – who was nominated by Trump to lead the Fed in late 2017 and confirmed by the Senate to the position in early 2018 – will complete his term as Fed chief in May, but he is not obligated to leave its Washington-based Board of Governors until 2028. A number of analysts saw the latest move by the administration as adding to the chances that he will defiantly remain at the ⁠central bank.
The criminal indictment threat emerged about two weeks before Trump’s ⁠effort to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, will be ​argued before the Supreme Court.
Until now Powell had avoided public disagreement with the Trump administration, Republican lawmakers had been largely silent and investors had been warily watching as the sparring match between the White House and the Fed played out during Trump’s second term.
Powell’s pointed response and signs of congressional pushback appear to open a new and more highly charged chapter in that row, even as House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he’d let the process “play out.”

‘THREATS AND ONGOING PRESSURE’

The subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department last week pertained to remarks Powell made to Congress last summer over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion ‍building renovation project at the Fed’s headquarters complex in Washington, and threatened a criminal indictment.
“I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one – certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve – is above the law,” Powell said.
“But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure” for lower interest rates and more broadly for greater say over the Fed, he said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/trump-team-ramps-up-attack-feds-powell-with-criminal-indictment-threat-2026-01-12/

Two China-flagged supertankers that were sailing to Venezuela to pick up debt-paying crude cargoes made U-turns and were headed back to Asia, LSEG shipping data showed on Monday, a sign that the U.S.-blocked South American country might not be directly exporting oil to its main buyer any time soon.
Following the U.S. announcement last week of a deal to export up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil stuck in storage, U.S. President Donald Trump said China would not be deprived of Venezuela’s crude. He did not elaborate on the supply mechanism.

But the Asian nation, the biggest market for Venezuela’s oil, has not received any cargoes from state-run PDVSA since last month as Washington says the oil embargo remains in force.
Global trading houses Vitol and Trafigura are instead readying the first cargoes of the announced $2 billion deal, to be sent to the U.S. and other destinations, including India and China, a negotiation that can ultimately benefit China’s refiners if the traders negotiate cargoes with them.
The very large crude carriers Xingye and Thousand Sunny, which have not been the subject of sanctions, had remained anchored in the Atlantic Ocean for weeks, waiting for directions amid the blockade and Venezuela’s political crisis, triggered by the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

PDVSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The vessels are part of a group of three supertankers that cover only the Venezuela-China route to carry crude that pays Venezuela’s debt service to the Asian country.
The loans are part of Venezuela’s overall debt to China, which used to be its first lender. Shortly after Venezuela was put under U.S. energy sanctions in 2019, China granted a grace period to receive capital payments and negotiated a temporary deal with Caracas so debt service would be compensated with crude cargoes.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/supertankers-that-would-pick-up-debt-paying-venezuelan-oil-cargoes-china-make-u-2026-01-12/

Iran’s rial has plummeted to unprecedented lows, rendering it nearly worthless against major currencies, which exacerbates the nation’s economic turmoil. The soaring costs of essential imports have triggered widespread protests.

Iran’s national currency, the rial, has sunk to devastating new lows, making it practically worthless against major foreign currencies and pushing the country deeper into economic chaos. On Iran’s open market, one US dollar now buys around 1,429,500 rials, while one euro trades for about 1,668,500 rials, according to live rates tracked by Bonbast.com.

These figures reflect a free-fall that has left everyday Iranians struggling to afford even the most basic necessities. The crisis boiled over in late December 2025, when the rial’s sharp drop made imported essentials like wheat, cooking oil, and medicine ingredients far more expensive. Merchants passed those costs on to customers, driving up prices across the board.

Kylie Jenner proved she had no hard feelings towards Odessa A’zion after the actress snubbed her during an awkward moment at the 2026 Golden Globes.

The makeup mogul posted two photos with the “Marty Supreme” star on her Instagram Stories on Monday.

In a mirror selfie from inside the event, the two posed together while giving fierce facial expressions, and in another more candid photo, Jenner laughed as A’zion appeared to put her hand on her head.

During Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony, A’zion was filmed going up to her “Marty Supreme” co-star Timothée Chalamet at his table and giving him a side hug and an air kiss. As Jenner also offered her cheek for a kiss, A’zion pulled away and walked off.

But Jenner, 28, and A’zion, 25, were noticeably friendly during the ceremony.

After Chalamet won the award for best actor in a musical or comedy, Jenner and A’zion both clapped excitedly and hugged.

They also posed for pictures at their table together.

Jenner stunned at the ceremony wearing a metallic gold Ashi Studio gown with glittering beaded straps as well as over 100 carats of custom Lorraine Schwarz diamond jewelry, including huge 75-carat earrings and multiple rings.

She also got a sweet shoutout from Chalamet when he thanked her during his emotional speech, referring to her as his “partner.”

“To my parents and my partner, I love you. Thank you so much,” he said.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/01/12/celebrity-news/kylie-jenner-posts-selfies-with-timothee-chalamets-co-star-following-awkward-golden-globes-snub/

“I saw it with my own eyes – they fired directly into lines of protesters, and people fell where they stood.”

Omid’s voice was shaking as he spoke, fearful of being traced. Breaking the wall of silence between Iran and the rest of the world takes immense courage, given the risk of reprisals by the authorities.

Omid, in his early 40s and whose name we have changed for his safety, has been protesting on the streets of a small city in southern Iran over the past few days against worsening economic hardship.

He said security forces had opened fire at unarmed protesters in his city with Kalashnikov-style assault rifles.

“We are fighting a brutal regime with empty hands,” he said.

The BBC has received similar accounts of the crackdown by security forces following the widespread protests across the country last week.

Since then, internet access has been cut by the authorities, making reporting from Iran more difficult than ever. BBC Persian is banned from reporting inside Iran by the government.

One of the largest nationwide anti-government protests took place on Thursday, the twelfth night of demonstrations. Many people appear to have joined the protests on Thursday and Friday after calls from Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah of Iran who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The following day, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said: “The Islamic Republic will not back down.” It appears that the worst bloodshed occurred after that warning as security forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps take their orders from him.

Iranian authorities accused the US and Israel of fomenting trouble and condemned “terrorist actions”, state media reported.

A young woman from Tehran said last Thursday felt like “the day of judgement”.

“Even remote neighbourhoods of Tehran were packed with protesters – places you wouldn’t believe,” she said.

“But on Friday, security forces only killed and killed and killed. Seeing it with my own eyes made me so unwell that I completely lost morale. Friday was a bloody day.”

She said that, after Friday’s killings, people were afraid to go out and that many were now chanting from alleys and inside their homes.

Tehran was a battlefield, she said, with protesters and security forces taking positions and cover on the streets.

But she added: “In war, both sides have weapons. Here, people only chant and get killed. It is a one-sided war.”

Eyewitnesses in Fardis, a city just to the west of Tehran, said that on Friday, members of the paramilitary Basij force under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) suddenly attacked protesters after hours without a police presence on the streets.

The forces, who were in uniform and riding motorcycles, fired live ammunition directly at protesters, according to the witnesses. Unmarked cars were also driven into alleys, with occupants shooting at residents who were not involved in the protests, they said.

“Two or three people were killed in every alley,” one witness alleged.

Those who have given accounts to BBC Persian say the reality inside Iran is hard for the outside world to imagine, and the death toll reported by international media so far only represents a fraction of their own estimates.

International news outlets are not allowed to work freely inside Iran and they are mostly relying on Iranian human rights groups who are active outside the country. On Monday the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said at least 648 protesters in Iran had been killed, including nine people under the age of 18.

Some local sources and eyewitnesses report very high numbers of people killed across different cities, ranging from several hundreds to thousands.

The BBC is currently unable to independently verify these figures and, so far, Iranian authorities have not provided official or transparent statistics on the number of deaths of protesters.

However, Iranian media has reported that 100 security personnel had been killed during the protests, saying that protesters – whom they refer to as “rioters” – set fire to dozens of mosques and banks in various cities.

Videos verified by BBC Persian’s fact-checking team also show police vehicles and some government buildings being set alight in different locations during the protests.

Testimonies and video sent to BBC Persian are mainly from larger cities such as Tehran, nearby Karaj, Rasht in the north, Mashhad in the north-east, and Shiraz in the south. These areas have greater access to the internet via the Starlink satellite network.

Information from small towns – where many early casualties occurred – is scarce as their access to Starlink is very limited.

But the volume, consistency, and similarity of the accounts received from various cities point to the severity of the crackdown and the widespread use of lethal violence.

Nurses and medics who spoke to the BBC said they had seen numerous dead bodies and injured protesters.

They reported that hospitals in many cities had been overwhelmed and were unable to treat those with severe injuries, especially to the head and eyes. Some witnesses reported bodies “stacked on top of each other” and not handed over to families.

Graphic videos published on the activist-run Telegram channel Vahid Online on Sunday showed a large number of bodies at the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre in Tehran, with many families either mourning or attempting to identify the corpses.

In one of the videos apparently from Kahrizak, relatives are seen looking at the photos of unidentified bodies displayed on a screen.

Many bodies in black bags were visible in the facility and on the street outside, only some of which seem to have been identified.

One video showed the inside of a warehouse containing several bodies, while another showed a truck being unloaded with people removing corpses from it.

A mortuary worker in a cemetery in Mashhad said that before sunrise on Friday morning between 180 and 200 bodies with severe head injuries were brought in and buried immediately.

A source in Rasht told BBC Persian that 70 bodies of protesters were transferred to a hospital mortuary in the city on Thursday. According to the source, security forces demanded “payment for bullets” before releasing bodies to families.

At the same time, a medical staff member at a hospital in eastern Tehran told BBC Persian that on Thursday, around 40 bodies were brought there the same day. The hospital’s name has been withheld to protect the identity of the medic.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgp70ynx1po

President Donald Trump has arrived at a delicate moment as he weighs whether to order a U.S. military response against the Iranian government as it continues a violent crackdown on protests that have left more than 600 dead and led to the arrests of thousands across the country.

The U.S. president has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if his administration found the Islamic Republic was using deadly force against antigovernment protesters. It’s a red line that Trump has said he believes Iran is “starting to cross” and has left him and his national security team weighing “very strong options.”

But the U.S. military — which Trump has warned Tehran is “locked and loaded” — appears, at least for the moment, to have been placed on standby mode as Trump ponders next steps, saying that Iranian officials want to have talks with the White House.

“What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”

Hours later, Trump announced on social media that he would slap 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Tehran “effective immediately” — his first action aimed at penalizing Iran for the protest crackdown, and his latest example of using tariffs as a tool to force friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.

China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Brazil and Russia are among economies that do business with Tehran. The White House declined to offer further comment or details about the president’s tariff announcement.

The White House has offered scant details on Iran’s outreach for talks, but Leavitt confirmed that the president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will be a key player engaging Tehran.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and key White House National Security Council officials began meeting Friday to develop a “suite of options,” from a diplomatic approach to military strikes, to present to Trump in the coming days, according to a U.S. official familiar with the internal administration deliberations. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Trump told reporters Sunday evening that a “meeting is being set up” with Iranian officials but cautioned that “we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting.”

“We’re watching the situation very carefully,” Trump said.

Can the protests be sustained?

Demonstrations in Iran continue, but analysts say it remains unclear just how long protesters will remain on the street.

An internet blackout imposed by Tehran makes it hard for protesters to understand just how widespread the demonstrations have become, said Vali Nasr, a State Department adviser during the early part of the Obama administration, and now professor of international affairs and Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University.

“It makes it very difficult for news from one city or pictures from one city to incense or motivate action in another city,” Nasr said. “The protests are leaderless, they’re organization-less. They are actually genuine eruptions of popular anger. And without leadership and direction and organization, such protests, not just in Iran, everywhere in the world — it’s very difficult for them to sustain themselves.”

Meanwhile, Trump is dealing with a series of other foreign policy emergencies around the globe.

It’s been just over a week since the U.S. military launched a successful raid to arrest Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and remove him from power. The U.S. continues to mass an unusually large number of troops in the Caribbean Sea.

Trump is also focused on trying to get Israel and Hamas onto the second phase of a peace deal in Gaza and broker an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the nearly four-year war in Eastern Europe.

But advocates urging Trump to take strong action against Iran say this moment offers an opportunity to further diminish the theocratic government that’s ruled the country since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

The demonstrations are the biggest Iran has seen in years — protests spurred by the collapse of Iranian currency that have morphed into a larger test of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s repressive rule.

Iran, through the country’s parliamentary speaker, has warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.

Trump allies want to see US back protesters

Some of Trump’s hawkish allies in Washington are calling on the president not to miss the opportunity to act decisively against a vulnerable Iranian government that they argue is reeling after last summer’s 12-day war with Israel and battered by U.S. strikes in June on key Iranian nuclear sites.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on social media Monday that the moment offers Trump the chance to show that he’s serious about enforcing red lines. Graham alluded to former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012 setting a red line on the use of chemical weapons by Syria’s Bashar Assad against his own people — only not to follow through with U.S. military action after the then-Syrian leader crossed that line the following year.

“It is not enough to say we stand with the people of Iran,” Graham said. “The only right answer here is that we act decisively to protect protesters in the street — and that we’re not Obama — proving to them we will not tolerate their slaughter without action.”

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, another close Trump ally, said the “goal of every Western leader should be to destroy the Iranian dictatorship at this moment of its vulnerability.”

“In a few weeks either the dictatorship will be gone or the Iranian people will have been defeated and suppressed and a campaign to find the ringleaders and kill them will have begun,” Gingrich said in an X post. “There is no middle ground.”

Indeed, Iranian authorities have managed to snuff out rounds of mass protests before, including the “Green Movement” following the disputed election in 2009 and the “woman, life, freedom” protests that broke out after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody of the state’s morality police in 2022.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-protests-military-tariffs-28972b6ac7f67b5f28a7a3089ea2cf23

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ragtag revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another” took top honors at Sunday’s 83rd Golden Globes in the comedy category, while Chloé Zhao’s Shakespeare drama “Hamnet” pulled off an upset over “Sinners” to win best film, drama.

“One Battle After Another” won best film, comedy, supporting female actor for Teyana Taylor and best director and best screenplay for Anderson. He became just the second filmmaker to sweep director, screenplay and film, as a producer, at the Globes. Only Oliver Stone, for “Born on the Fourth of July,” managed the same feat.

In an awards ceremony that went almost entirely as expected, the night’s final award was the most surprising. While “One Battle After Another” has been the clear front-runner this awards season, most have pegged Ryan Coogler’s Jim Crow-era vampire thriller as its closest competition.

But “Hamnet,” a speculative drama about William and Agnes Shakespeare based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller, won in the dramatic category shortly after its star, Jessie Buckley, won best female actor in a drama.

It was a banner night for Warner Bros., the studio behind “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.” Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to be sold to Netflix in an $83 billion deal. Paramount Skydance has appealed to shareholders with its own rival offer.

In his speech after winning best director, Anderson praised Warner co-chief Michael DeLuca.

“He said he wanted to run a studio one day and let filmmakers make whatever they want,” said Anderson. “That’s how you get ‘Sinners.’ That’s how you get a ‘Weapons.’ That’s how you get ‘One Battle After Another.’”

The final awards brought to, or near, the stage a handful of the most talented filmmakers together in Anderson, Zhao and Coogler — plus Steven Spielberg, a producer of “Hamnet.” Regardless of who won what, it was a heartening moment of solidarity between them, with a shared sense of purpose. Zhao fondly recalled being at Sundance Labs with Coogler when they were each starting out.

“As students, let’s keep our hearts open and let’s keep seeing each other and allowing each other to be seen,” said Zhao, while Coogler smiled from the front row.

“Sinners” won for best score and cinematic and box-office achievement. The win for box office and cinematic achievement, over franchise films like “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” was notable for Coogler’s film, a movie that some reports labeled a qualified success on its release.

Yet “Sinners” ultimately grossed $278 million domestically and $368 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing original film in 15 years.

“I just want to thank the audience for showing up,” said Coogler. “It’s means the world.”

Coming off years of scandal and subsequent rehabilitation, the Globes and host Nikki Glaser put on a star-studded ceremony that saw wins for the streaming sensation “KPop Demon Hunters” (best animated film, song), a meta triumph for Seth Rogen’s “The Studio” and an inaugural award for podcasting that went to Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang.”

Many of the Oscar favorites won. Timothee Chalamet won his first Golden Globe, for “Marty Supreme,” after four previous nominations. The 30-year-old is poised to win his first Oscar. Fellow nominees like Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney stood to applaud his win.

“My dad instilled in me a spirit of gratitude growing up: Always be grateful for what you have,” said Chalamet. “It’s allowed me to leave this ceremony in the past empty handed, my head held high, grateful just to be here. I’d be lying if I didn’t say those moments didn’t make this moment that much sweeter.”

Glaser comes out swinging

The Globes, held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, got underway with a pointedly political opening from host Nikki Glaser and an early award for the night’s favorite, “One Battle After Another.” Emceeing the show for the second straight year, Glaser kicked off the show with self-aware satire.

“Yes, the Golden Globes, without a doubt the most important thing happening in the world right now,” she said.

In a winning, rapid-fire opening monologue that landed some punch lines on the usual subjects — the age of Leonardo DiCaprio’s dates, Kevin Hart’s height — Glaser also dove right into some of her most topical material.

For the on-the-block Warner Bros., Glaser started the bidding at $5. Referencing the Epstein files, she suggested best editing should go to the Justice Dept. The “most editing,” however, she suggested deserved to go to Bari Weiss’ new CBS News — a dig at the Paramount Skydance-owned network airing the Globes.

Globes mix glitz and gloom

Political tension and industrywide uncertainty were the prevailing moods heading into Sunday’s awards. Hollywood is coming off a disappointing box-office year and now anxiously awaits the fate of one of its most storied studios, Warner Bros. Following the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, several attendees wore pins reading “Be Good.”

The Globes, formerly presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, have no overlap or direct correlation with the Academy Awards. After being sold in 2023 to Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, a part of Penske Media, the Globes are voted on by around 400 people. The Oscars are voted on by more than 10,500 professionals.

But in the fluctuating undulations of awards season, a good speech at the Globes can boost an Oscar campaign. Winners Sunday included Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”) for best female actor in a comedy or musical, and Wagner Moura, the Brazilian star of “The Secret Agent,” for best male actor in a drama. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s period political thriller also won best international film.

“I think if trauma can be passed along generations, values can too,” Moura said. “So this to the ones who are sticking with their values in difficult moments.”

Other winners Sunday included the supporting actor front-runner, Stellan Skarsgård who won for the Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value.” It was the first major Hollywood movie award for the 74-year-old, a respected veteran actor who drew a standing ovation.

“I was not prepared for this because I, of course, thought I was too old,” said Skarsgård.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/2026-golden-globes-1538032b1bb06383484b15c3c4b9c16f

The U.S. and India are actively engaged on a bilateral trade agreement to deepen economic and strategic partnership, the U.S. ambassador-designate to New Delhi said Monday.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India has emerged as the second biggest buyer of Russian crude after China, upsetting the Trump administration, which criticized the purchases as helping fuel Moscow’s war machine.

In August, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States to a steep 50%.

A close aide of Trump, the new ambassador-designate, Sergio Gor, said the next call between the two sides on trade-related matters was scheduled Tuesday.

“Real friends can disagree, but always resolve their differences in the end,” Gor said in an address on his first day in office at the U.S. Embassy. “Remember India is the world’s largest nation so it’s not an easy task to get this across the finish line, but we are determined to get there.”

Gor, who is also the U.S. special envoy to South and Central Asia, announced that India will be formally invited next month to join a U.S.-led strategic initiative called Pax Silica as part of a broader partnership.

The initiative aims to build a secure silicon supply chain, from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Nations that joined it last month include Japan, South Korea, U.K. and Israel.

Gor’s comments on bolstering trade and economic ties with India highlights a renewed push to anchor the partnership at a time the relationship has strained following Washington’s mounting pressure on New Delhi to stop buying discounted Russian crude oil.

India and the U.S. have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement since early last year. They hoped to conclude the first tranche by the fall of 2025, but it hasn’t come through mainly due to differences over sourcing of Russian oil, and Indian negotiators facing pressure to protect small farmers and domestic industries.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/india-us-ambassador-trump-modi-trade-a71870e8eb2f62cb698bda074f4ecd49

A violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people, said a rights group, as Iranian authorities sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies.

US President Donald Trump on Monday (Jan 12) announced a 25 per cent tariff on any country trading with Iran, amid Tehran’s violent crackdown on a wave of protests.

“Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran ‌will pay a Tariff of ‍25 per cent ‌on any and all business being done with the United States of ‌America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“This order is final and conclusive,” he said.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment on Trump’s tariff announcement. Iran, already under heavy US sanctions, exports much of its oil to China, with Türkiye, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its other top trading partners.

A violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people, a rights group said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies.
The government’s call for rallies in support of the Islamic Republic drew thousands on Monday, a turnout Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protests – which the authorities attribute to foreign interference – had been defeated.

Iran’s leaders, their regional clout much reduced, are facing fierce demonstrations that evolved from complaints about dire economic hardships to defiant calls for the fall of the deeply entrenched clerical establishment.

Rights groups have warned that an internet blackout that monitor Netblocks says has lasted four days was aimed at masking a deadly crackdown on the protests.

The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people were killed during the protests, including nine minors, and thousands more injuries, but warned the death toll was likely much higher – “according to some estimates more than 6,000”, it said.

IHR added that the internet shutdown made it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”, saying an estimated 10,000 people had been arrested.

“The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killing by the Islamic Republic,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Monday that military options, including air strikes, were still “on the table”, but “diplomacy is always the first option for the president”.

More than two weeks of demonstrations initially sparked by economic grievances have turned into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah.

Khamenei, in power since 1989 and now 86, said in a statement that Monday’s pro-government rallies were a “warning” to the United States.

“These massive rallies, full of determination, have thwarted the plan of foreign enemies that were supposed to be carried out by domestic mercenaries,” he said, according to state TV.

“FOUR-FRONT WAR”

In the capital Tehran, state TV showed people brandishing the national flag and prayers read for victims of what the government has termed “riots”.

At Enghelab (Revolution) Square, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told the crowd that Iran was fighting a “four-front war”, listing economic war, psychological war, “military war” with the United States and Israel, and “today a war against terrorists” – a reference to the protests.

Flanked by the slogans “Death to Israel, Death to America” in Persian, he vowed the Iranian military would teach Trump “an unforgettable lesson” if Iran were attacked.

But Trump said Sunday that Iran’s leadership had called him seeking “to negotiate”, and Leavitt noted public messages from Iranian authorities were “quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately”.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors in Tehran that Iran was “not seeking war but is fully prepared for war”, while calling for “fair” negotiations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said a channel of communication was open between Araghchi and Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff despite the lack of diplomatic relations.

Araghchi said Tehran was studying ideas proposed by Washington, though these were “incompatible” with US threats.

“Communications between (US special envoy Steve) Witkoff and me continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing,” he told Al Jazeera.

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah who has been vocal in calling for protests, told CBS news the government was “trying to trick the world into thinking that (it) is ready to negotiate once again”.

He said Trump was “a man that means what he says and says what he means” and who “knows what’s at stake”.

“The red line that was drawn has been definitely surpassed by this regime.”

The US Department of State Consular Affairs highlighted the escalating protests and said US citizens in Iran should consider leaving by land to Armenia or Türkiye.

“US nationals are at significant risk of questioning, arrest, and detention in Iran,” the department said on its TravelGov account on X.

“RESPECT FOR THEIR RIGHTS”

State outlets were at pains to present a picture of calm returning in Tehran, broadcasting images of smooth-flowing traffic.

Tehran Governor Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian insisted in televised comments that “the number of protests is decreasing”.

Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. The government has declared three days of national mourning for those killed.

The European Union has voiced support for the protesters and on Monday said it was “looking into” imposing additional sanctions on Iran over the repression of demonstrations.

The European Parliament also announced it had banned all Iranian diplomats and representatives from the assembly’s premises.

The Iranian foreign ministry said it had summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK, demanding they “withdraw official statements supporting the protesters”.

French President Emmanuel Macron, however, issued a statement later Monday condemning “the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights”.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-iran-tariffs-protests-tehran-648-toll-rallies-5853936

“The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland. This is something that the governing coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstance,” the Greenland government said.

Greenland’s government on Monday (Jan 12) said it could not accept a US takeover of the Arctic island under “any circumstance”, after US President Donald Trump said that the United States would take the territory “one way or the other”.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to bring the island under US control, arguing that the Danish autonomous territory is crucial for national security.

“The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland. This is something that the governing coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstance,” the Greenlandic government said in a statement.

On Sunday, Trump warned that if the United States didn’t take Greenland, “Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen”.

The US leader said he would be open to making a deal with the Danish self-governing island, “but one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”

Last week, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement with Denmark to show their backing for Copenhagen and Greenland against Trump.

“On the basis of the very positive declaration from the six NATO member states regarding Greenland, the Government of Greenland will intensify efforts to ensure that the defence of Greenland is carried out within NATO,” Monday’s statement said.

“Greenland will always be part of the Western defence alliance,” the government added.

Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump’s threats over the strategic island, which has been home to a US military base since World War II.

A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26 years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with Denmark. Polls show that Greenland’s people strongly oppose a US takeover.

Germany’s foreign minister on Monday meanwhile played down the risk of a US attack on Greenland.

Asked after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about a unilateral military move by Trump, Johann Wadephul said: “I have no indication that this is being seriously considered.”

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/greenland-trump-denmark-nato-nuuk-us-5853851

There are 9 million women of menopausal age in Germany’s labor force. The change of life can have consequences for an economy. There are things that companies can do to retain their workers.

When women talk about menopause and the associated problems — insomnia, difficulty concentrating, migraines, exhaustion — they often lower their voices to a whisper. There are currently about 11 million women of menopausal age in Germany, many of whom are suffering the effects of hormonal fluctuations, yet the subject is still taboo.

More than 9 million of these women are in the labor force. They constitute about a fifth of the working population.

At the same time, one-third of companies in Germany are reporting a shortage of skilled workers, according to a March 2024 survey by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research. Demographic change means that this is likely to be even more of a problem in future.

This makes it more important than ever for employers to look after the well being of their staff. Yet until now the problems of women going through menopause have often been ignored.

Around one third of women suffer severe symptoms that can impair their ability to work. In addition to hot flashes, other menopausal symptoms may include joint pain, heart palpitations, concentration difficulties, depressive moods, and reduced self-esteem.

The menopause usually begins when a woman is in her mid- to late-40s, and usually lasts between ten and 15 years. It’s a time of life when children have often left home, and women should be in a position to kick-start their careers again. The reality is quite different.

High financial cost

According to Andrea Rumler from the Berlin School of Economics and Law, menopausal symptoms are costing Germany approximately 9.5 billion euros per year in reduced economic output. Companies are losing around 40 million working days.

In 2023, Rumler conducted a survey of more than 2,000 women aged between 28 and 67. Almost a quarter of them said menopausal symptoms were a reason for reducing their working hours, and they had caused almost a fifth to change jobs. One in ten stated that they intended to retire early, or had already done so, because of the menopause.

Certain types of work particularly hard

Working through the menopause is harder in some occupations than in others. For example, if a female police officer on patrol suddenly has a very heavy menstrual bleed or a bladder issue, there isn’t always a toilet she can access close at hand.

Menopausal symptoms are especially problematic for women working in the public sphere. Teachers, childcare workers, nurses, carers, and saleswomen cannot work from home, or take breaks when they need to.

This is particularly relevant for society, as some of these professions are staffed predominantly by women, such as nursing (85%), workers in schools (73%), and commercial office workers (more than 65%). These sectors are also among the ones experiencing a particular shortage of skilled workers.

Fear of stigmatization and discrimination

For many women, not being able to talk openly about the menopause is a major burden. More than half of the women in Rumler’s survey stated that the menopause was a taboo topic in their workplace.

“Many women in this phase of life are suffering at work, but they don’t talk about it — out of shame, or ignorance, or for fear of being stigmatized,” Rumler says.

This is why companies need to educate people about the effects and symptoms of the menopause. This information is important not just for the women affected, but for other employees and managers, too. “I’m constantly hearing from company physicians, or people in human resources who actively address the subject, that their bosses just dismiss it and say it’s not an important issue,” Rumler explains.

As well as removing the taboo around discussion of the menopause, it is also helpful if women are able to adapt their working hours and routines to their needs. Flexible working hours, needs-based task scheduling, and well-timed breaks can help with exhaustion, concentration problems, and insomnia, and can considerably improve efficiency and productivity.

For example, it is particularly important for female salespeople, sales representatives, production workers, bus drivers, and police officers to be able to access sanitary facilities quickly and easily. And since the menopause has, until now, barely featured as part of a doctor’s medical studies, company physicians should be given appropriate additional training.

Britain is setting an example

In recent years, things have begun to move. Britain, in particular, has made considerable progress. The UK parliament has launched a major study of menopause in the workplace, and guidance on the topic is part of the routine health check by the state health service, the NHS.

More than 7,800 organizations have now signed the voluntary commitment known as the Menopause Workplace Pledge. They include companies such as Vodafone, the BBC, and Tesco, as well as local authorities, schools, charities, healthcare providers, and small companies in many different fields.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/menopause-when-hormones-harm-the-economy/a-75441306

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping up pressure on the long-time U.S. nemesis and provoking defiant words from the island’s leadership.
Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces in early January amid a strict U.S. oil blockade on the OPEC country, shipping data shows.

Meanwhile, Caracas and Washington are progressing on a $2 billion deal to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. with proceeds to be deposited in U.S. Treasury-supervised accounts, a major test of the emerging relationship between Trump and interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” Trump added.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected Trump’s threat on social media, suggesting the U.S. had no moral authority to force a deal on Cuba.

“Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do,” Diaz-Canel said on X. “Cuba does not attack; it has been attacked by the U.S. for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”
The U.S. president did not elaborate on his suggested deal.
But Trump’s push on Cuba represents the latest escalation in his move to bring regional powers in line with the United States and underscores the seriousness of the administration’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere.
Trump’s top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have made no secret of their expectation that the recent U.S. intervention in Venezuela could push Cuba over the edge.
U.S. officials have hardened their rhetoric against Cuba in recent weeks, though the two countries have been at odds since former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

CUBA DEFENDS IMPORT RIGHTS
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in another post on X on Sunday that Cuba had the right to import fuel from any suppliers willing to export it. He also denied that Cuba had received financial or other “material” compensation in return for security services provided to any country.

Thirty-two members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services were killed during the U.S. raid on Venezuela. Cuba said those killed were responsible for “security and defense” but did not provide details on the arrangement between the two long-time allies.
Cuba relies on imported crude and fuel mainly provided by Venezuela, and Mexico in smaller volumes, purchased on the open market to keep its power generators and vehicles running.
As its operational refining capacity dwindled in recent years, Venezuela’s supply of crude and fuel to Cuba has fallen. But the South American country is still the largest provider with some 26,500 barrels per day exported last year, according to ship tracking data and internal documents of state-run PDVSA, which covered roughly 50% of Cuba’s oil deficit.
Havana produce vendor Alberto Jimenez, 45, said Cuba would not back down in the face of Trump’s threat.
“That doesn’t scare me. Not at all. The Cuban people are prepared for anything,” Jimenez said.
It’s hard for many Cubans to imagine a situation much worse. The island’s government has been struggling to keep the lights on. A majority live without electricity for much of the day, and even the capital Havana has seen its economy crippled by hours-long rolling blackouts.
Shortages of food, fuel and medicine have put Cubans on edge and have prompted a record-breaking exodus, primarily to the United States, in the past five years.
MEXICO BECOMES KEY SUPPLIER
Mexico has emerged in recent weeks as a critical alternative oil supplier to the island, but the supply remains small, according to the shipping data.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum last week said her country had not increased supply volumes, but given recent political events in Venezuela, Mexico had turned into an “important supplier” of crude to Cuba.

Source:https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-suggests-cuba-should-strike-deal-with-us-2026-01-11/

GOLDEN Globes nominees won’t just be competing for prestige this year – and they’ll all be leaving with far more than the iconic gold statuette.

From ultra-rare wine that costs more than some houses to luxury oceanfront getaways on exotic islands, Hollywood’s biggest stars will be spoiled with the ultimate swag bag.

For the 83rd annual Golden Globes, nominees will each receive The Ultimate Gift Bag, valued at just under $1million and featuring a curated selection of the best in travel, beauty, wellness, and spirits.

The swag bag includes several vacation packages to keep the nominees well-traveled throughout the year.

Among the lavish trips included is a three-night stay at The Residence, a six-bedroom villa at the Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa.

The Residence is the property’s most extravagant room and costs a whopping $80,000 for three nights.

For more fun on the island, attendees can also enjoy town nights at The Muraka, the Hilton’s sister property at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

The world’s first undersea residence, followed by a two-night stay at the Rangali Ocean Pavilion, is valued at $70,000.

For those wanting an island getaway in the Western hemisphere, nominees can enjoy a stay at The Reserve at Grace Bay by Beach Enclave, a beachfront villa in Turks and Caicos worth $50,000.

The generous offerings also include a three-night stay at Casa Bellamar in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico – a beachfront villa worth $25,000.

Three nights at The Royal Villa at Conrad Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand, valued at over $15,000, is also being given to nominees.

As well as four nights at Conrad Singapore Orchard worth $12,000, a six-night stay across a trio of New Zealand luxury lodges Flockhill, ROKI, and Minaret worth $32,000, and a four-night stay in New Zealand at Wharekauhau Country Estate with a private winemaker dinner worth $15,000.

For those wanting to be on the water rather than land, a five-day luxury yacht charter throughout the Coral Triangle in Indonesia, worth $60,000, is being offered.

And for those who prefer to be up in the clouds, behind-the-scenes access is being allowed for the 2026 W.E.C. race, which includes a five-percent private jet flight incentive valued at up to $10,000.

The Robb Report, who helped curate this year’s swag bag, is also offering coveted experiences including the opportunity to test drive the most coveted vehicles of 2027 at The Concours Club in Boca Raton, FL, valued at $31,500.

The company is also putting together a wellness retreat and giving nominees two tickets worth $20,000.

HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR

For the nominees focused on wellness, a variety of luxury skincare and beauty products are being offered.

A $450 Cellcosmet skincare set, $650 Sothys: Sothys x Bernardaud Porcelaine La Crème 128, and a TRONQUE Spa box with triple-active body milk, exfoliating body serum, firming butter, and an ionic dry brush worth $465 is also in the gift bag.

For those who take their haircare seriously, Maison Devereux is offering a year-long membership to The Golden Circle, as well as a set of gold shampoo and conditioner, which is valued at $21,000.

Extrait de Parfum collection is offering a $615 bottle of fragrance from their luxury brand and DOGPOUND, the celebrity-beloved gym, is giving out an exclusive full club rental experience at an ultra-private gym worth $7,500.

Celebrities can also experience CurrentBody Skin, a cutting-edge LED hair growth helmet worth $900.

The Guerlain Wellness Spa at the Waldorf Astoria is offering $500 massage treatments at both their Santa Monica, California location or at their New York City location.

WINE AND DINE

Anyone looking to let loose after the stress of the awards shows can relax with extremely rare bottles of wine from Liber Pater.

The luxury wine brand, which boasts it uses some of the most exclusive grapes in the world, is offering bottles of their French wine from 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019 – worth a staggering $210,000.

Two tickets are also being offered to the Jubilee at the Liber Pater estate in Bordeaux, which costs $117,000 and the 2026 Golden Vines event, worth $30,000.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15734684/golden-globe-nominees-gift-bags-wine-maldives-trips-winners/

A WAITRESS who was “like family” to owners of a Swiss bar that went up in flames was found among people trapped behind a locked door during the blaze that killed 40.

Jessica and Jacques Moretti, a married couple and co-owners of Le Constellation, recounted the harrowing details of the night of the deadly inferno to investigators.

It comes as 34 of the 40 bodies reportedly were found piled up at the foot of the narrow staircase, according to 20 Minuten.

Jessica said the night was “very quiet” to begin with, with hardly anyone in at midnight to celebrate the New Year, according to police statements obtained by BFMTV.

“I was just telling Cyane [a waitress] that we needed to bring in more people to liven things up,” Jessica recalled.

The Morettis said they considered Cyane, 24, like a member of their family.

She spent Christmas with the pair just days before the tragic event.

Jessica said groups of people started to flock to the venue until there were almost a hundred guests at the bar, she estimated.

Some time later, she spotted an “orange light in the corner of the bar”.

“I immediately shouted, ‘Everyone out!’ and immediately thought of calling the fire department.”

She called emergency services at 1.28am and told security guards to send everyone out.

She then called her husband Jacques, who arrived at the scene not long after.

He said he tried to enter the building but it was “impossible” because it was full of smoke.

Instead, he and two other people went around to a service door on the ground floor which was “closed and locked” from the inside.

If police find that the pair knowingly kept the door locked and knew the risks, it’s understood they could face new charges.

The current accusation is negligent homicide – but the couple could be charged with murder by implied malice.

The owners could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of such a crime.

He told investigators that he found a pile of bodies on the floor when he unlocked the door after the deadly blaze, one of which was waitress Cyane.

Jacques recalled the harrowing moment he tried to save her life.

“Her boyfriend and I tried to resuscitate her outside on the street for more than an hour until the paramedics told us it was too late,” Moretti said.

The owner also told investigators he personally replaced the foam layer on the ceiling which later burst into flames during the catastrophic blaze.

He said staff regularly used the sparklers, and that council staff who inspected the bar three times never declared it a fire hazard.

Jacques said he didn’t believe the sparklers were enough to have started the fire on their own.

“We’ve been doing this for ten years, and there’s never been a problem,” the manager said, quoted by Blick.

“It’s not impossible that these candles caused the fire,” he said, but went on to say he believed, “there must be something else”.

He said the pyrotechnics, “were not powerful enough to ignite the sound-absorbing foam. I had done some tests”.

It comes after two former staff members claimed fire extinguishers were often locked away at Le Constellation bar.

Known only as Maxime and Sarah, the former employees said that fire safety training at the bar in Crans-Montana had been “dicey”.

Maxime told BFM: “I always said that if waitresses held up sparklers and they came into contact [with the ceiling], everything could go up in flames.

“There was definitely a risk and the safety measures were a bit dicey … staff weren’t briefed on fire safety and the emergency exit was sometimes blocked or locked.”

On top of the 40 people killed by the blaze, some as young as 14 years old, 119 people were injured in the catastrophe.

As Jacques – who is alleged to be a former “pimp” with an extensive criminal history – was taken into custody on Friday, his wife told reporters she wanted to “apologise”.

While her husband was being taken to jail in a white van with tinted windows, Jessica continued: “It’s an unimaginable tragedy. We never could have imagined this. I want to apologise.

Beyond wearing a tag, Jessica will now have to report to police every three days.

Despite the apology and reports that the owner knew the emergency exit was locked, it is understood that the Morettis will continue to deny any criminal or civil wrongdoing, according to their defence team.

Dozens of victims, some as young as 14 years old, lost their lives after the rapid inferno engulfed the ski resort nightclub.

Lawyers for the victims of the fire had called for the couple, who are both French nationals, to be placed in pre-trial detention.

Sébastien Fanti, counsel for wounded who remain in hospital, said of Mr Moretti before today’s hearing: “He’s a shady character whose practices raise questions.”

Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing some of the 116 injured – many teenagers left with catastrophic burns – has claimed that Le Constellation bar suspended its Facebook and Instagram accounts while rescue operations were ongoing.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15766413/swiss-bar-fire-owners-say-waitress-family-died/

‘LA is a crying, weeping shadow of what it once was,’ say despairing residents, as The Sun witnesses desperate scenes of crime and addiction

SLUMPED over and barely able to stand, drug-addled ‘zombies’ shoot up and smoke crack in the open, while one homeless man passes out with a bottle of alcohol for a pillow.

It’s just another day in one of LA’s most notorious ‘Walking Dead’ zones, while world-famous celebrities and billionaires continue to flee the so-called ‘City of Dreams’ in droves.

Specialists explain why the condition occurs, how it’s diagnosed, and the range of medical and surgical options available locally.

Imagine a sudden, electric shock-like pain striking one side of your face that can last seconds, at best, to a few minutes. The pain is so intense that it has been referred to as “suicide disease” by patients.

And it occurs several times a day when you’re chewing, talking, washing your face, brushing your teeth, or even having a light breeze blow across your face, according to Singapore General Hospital’s senior consultant Dr Adeline Leong, who heads its Department of Pain Medicine.

It’s called trigeminal neuralgia (TN), a condition that affects the trigeminal nerve. There are two such nerves in your face, one on each side of your head. Each nerve starts in your brainstem (the part known as the pons) and travels across your face, where it splits into three branches to the eye as well as upper and lower jaws (see illustration below).

The trigeminal nerves’ locations explain why TN affects, most commonly, “the region below the eye involving the cheek bone and the jaw”, said neurologist Dr Tu Tian Ming from Mount Elizabeth Hospital. In addition to a stabbing pain, “some patients also describe a continuous dull pain in between episodes, which may fluctuate in intensity”, he said.

“Some patients report tingling or dull ache before severe pain begins,” added Dr Leong. “But often, the onset feels abrupt. The pain-free intervals can last weeks or months initially but can shorten over time.”

Here’s a look at what causes TN, how common is it, and the solutions available.

HOW COMMON IS TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA?

TN is a rare condition. “There is no systematic collation of the number of TN patients in Singapore”, according to Dr Tu.

Associate consultant Dr Tan Chin Lik from National University Hospital’s Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, said that “the worldwide incidence is about four in 100,000”, which “translates into approximately 200 cases each year in Singapore”.

At SGH’s Pain Management Centre, “we see approximately 50 to 80 cases a year as a ballpark figure. Personally, I see about one or two patients in each clinical session,” said Dr Leong.

These patients are also seen in complementary care. Chiropractor and founder of Vitality Chiropractic, Shaan Daniel Rai, shared that “over the past seven years in operation, we have seen around 40 to 50 patients with TN. However, the incidence has been increasing over recent years, with three coming to see us in the past month”.

WHAT CAN CAUSE THE DEBILITATING PAIN?

The most common cause of TN – about 80 to 90 per cent of cases – is the compression of the trigeminal nerve by a loop of artery or vein, said Dr Tan. “Other causes include multiple sclerosis causing plaques in the brainstem, or a tumour compressing on the trigeminal nerve,” he said.

Situations that can affect the trigeminal nerve include head trauma such as whiplash, infections by the herpes zoster virus (it also leads to shingles), autoimmune conditions, circulatory issues, strokes, or accidental damage from brain, facial or dental surgery, according to Cleveland Clinic.

In addition, a study published in Neurology found that patients with high blood pressure were about 50 per cent more likely to develop TN than those with normal blood pressure over three years of follow-up. The researchers postulated that a twisted blood vessel, created by a high blood pressure, could compress the trigeminal nerve in these cases.

Migraine sufferers may be another group that can be prone to TN, according to Association of Migraine Disorders. Both migraine and TN affect the trigeminal nerve but in different ways: In migraine, triggers such as stress, light and hormones activate the trigeminal nerve’s pain-sensing fibres; in TN, the same nerve is compressed. What links the two conditions is the “electrical activity in the brain is thought to activate the trigeminal nerve in migraine with aura”, noted the website.

Having said that, there are also many TN cases where there is no obvious cause, said Dr Tu.

WHO CAN BE PRONE TO TN?

“Patients are usually middle aged, from 50 to 70 years old,” said Dr Tan – although they can be younger, starting from age 20 to 30, said Dr Tu.

Women are more predisposed to developing TN than men. This could be due to women’s smaller nerve volumes, genetic predispositions and hormonal influences. In studies, women are also more likely to experience pain on the right side of their faces, while men are commonly affected on the left.

The reasons aren’t clear, although experts highlighted anatomical differences such as narrower bone openings on the right side of the female skull that could increase nerve compression.

“Most cases of TN are sporadic, that is, they are non-hereditary,” said Dr Tan, “although it is believed that a small percentage (1 to 2 per cent) may be so. Scientists have identified several genetic variants of ion channels (they control nerve functions), which may contribute to TN, but these require further investigations.”

WHAT ABOUT TREATMENTS?

A brain MRI is often ordered to look for a blood vessel compression, said Dr Tan. “MRI can also be used to identify tumour or demyelination plaques as a cause of facial pain.” Patients are usually managed by neurologists or pain specialists, and referred to neurosurgeons when surgery is being considered, said Dr Tan.

The common treatments available in Singapore include:

ANTICONVULSANT MEDICATIONS

These include carbamazepine and gabapentin, and they are often preferred as the first line of treatment as they are non-invasive, said Dr Leong. The downside, however, are the medicines’ side effects, including drowsiness, dizziness and nausea.

Tech giant Meta urged Australia on Monday (Jan 12) to rethink its world-first social media ban for under-16s, while reporting that it has blocked more than 544,000 accounts under the new law.

Australia has required big platforms, including Meta, TikTok and YouTube, to stop underage users from holding accounts since the legislation came into force on Dec 10 last year.

Companies face fines of A$49.5 million (US$33 million) if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to comply.

Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta said it had removed 331,000 underage accounts from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook, and 40,000 from Threads in the week to Dec 11.

The company said it was committed to complying with the law.

“That said, we call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivising all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans,” it said in a statement.

Meta renewed an earlier call for app stores to be required to verify people’s ages and get parental approval before under-16s can download an app.

This was the only way to avoid a “whack-a-mole” race to stop teens migrating to new apps to avoid the ban, the company said.

Meta said parents and experts were worried about the ban isolating young people from online communities, and driving some to less regulated apps and darker corners of the internet.

Initial impacts of the legislation “suggest it is not meeting its objectives of increasing the safety and well-being of young Australians”, it argued.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/meta-urges-australia-change-teen-social-media-ban-5851831

Singapore is aware of the allegations concerning babies being trafficked from Indonesia into the country for adoption and the government is working closely with Indonesian authorities to review the matter.

Adoptive parents of children brought from Indonesia to Singapore are facing delays in their children’s citizenship applications amid investigations into a suspected Indonesian baby trafficking syndicate.

In a joint media release on Friday (Jan 9), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that they are aware of the allegations concerning babies being trafficked from Indonesia into Singapore for adoption. The ministries added that Singapore’s government is working closely with Indonesian authorities to review the matter.

This follows a request made in September 2025 by the Indonesia National Police. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) then said it was working with its Indonesian counterparts to investigate an alleged cross-border baby-trafficking syndicate based in West Java, in which three Singaporeans were suspected to be involved.

In July last year, an alleged ringleader was arrested in Jakarta, with Indonesian authorities seizing documents and records suggesting that the syndicate had trafficked at least 25 children, including 15 who had already been sent to Singapore.

SPF and MSF have been in contact with Indonesian police and Indonesia’s Ministry of Social Affairs in relation to the investigation findings and to verify the circumstances surrounding the affected children who were brought into Singapore for adoption.

SPF has also been rendering assistance to its Indonesian counterparts for their investigations.

Noting that the investigations are important, MHA and MSF said: “Child trafficking is a serious matter as it exploits young children’s vulnerabilities, violates their rights and separates them from their biological families for others’ personal gain or criminal activities.

“It also affects the children’s long-term well-being and development.”

MSF and the Immigration Checkpoints Authority have been in touch with the affected adoptive parents to explain the situation, which has led to some delays in their children’s citizenship applications.

“We are keenly aware of the anxiety that this situation has caused to the adoptive parents, and are working closely across the relevant authorities to ensure that the cases are dealt with as expeditiously as we can, and to safeguard the welfare and interests of the children,” said MHA and MSF.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/indonesia-baby-trafficking-adoption-citizenship-application-delay-5848246

Prediction markets let people wager on anything from a basketball game to the outcome of a presidential election — and recently, the downfall of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The latter is drawing renewed scrutiny into this murky world of speculative, 24/7 transactions. Last week, an anonymous trader pocketed more than $400,000 after betting that Maduro would soon be out of office.

The bulk of the trader’s bids on the platform Polymarket were made mere hours before President Donald Trump announced the surprise nighttime raid that led to Maduro’s capture, fueling online suspicions of potential insider trading because of the timing of the wagers and the trader’s narrow activity on the platform. Others argued that the risk of getting caught was too big, and that previous speculation about Maduro’s future could have led to such transactions.

Polymarket did not respond to requests for comment.

The commercial use of prediction markets has skyrocketed in recent years, opening the door for people to wage their money on the likelihood of a growing list of future events. But despite some eye-catching windfalls, traders still lose money everyday. And in terms of government oversight in the U.S., the trades are categorized differently than traditional forms of gambling — raising questions about transparency and risk.

Here’s what we know:

How prediction markets work

The scope of topics involved in prediction markets can range immensely — from escalation in geopolitical conflicts, to pop culture moments and even the fate of conspiracy theories. Recently, there’s been a surge of wages on elections and sports games. But some users have also bet millions on things like a rumored — and ultimately unrealized — “secret finale” for the Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” whether the U.S. government will confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life and how much billionaire Elon Musk might post on social media this month.

In industry-speak, what someone buys or sells in a prediction market is called an “event contract.” They’re typically advertised as “yes” or “no” wagers. And the price of one fluctuates between $0 and $1, reflecting what traders are collectively willing to pay based on a 0% to 100% chance of whether they think an event will occur.

The more likely traders think an event will occur, the more expensive that contract will become. And as those odds change over time, users can cash out early to make incremental profits, or try to avoid higher losses on what they’ve already invested.

Proponents of prediction markets argue putting money on the line leads to better forecasts. Experts like Koleman Strumpf, an economics professor at Wake Forest University, think there’s value in monitoring these platforms for potential news — pointing to prediction markets’ past success with some election outcomes, including the 2024 presidential race.

Still, it’s never a “crystal ball,” he noted, and prediction markets can be wrong, too.

Who is behind all of the trading is also pretty murky. While the companies running the platforms collect personal information of their users in order to verify identities and payments, most people can trade under anonymous pseudonyms online — making it difficult for the public to know who is profiting off many event contracts. In theory, people investing their money may be closely following certain events, but others could just be randomly guessing.

Critics stress that the ease and speed of joining these 24/7 wagers leads to financial losses everyday, particularly harming users who may already struggle with gambling. The space also broadens possibilities for potential insider trading.

The major players

Polymarket is one of the largest prediction markets in the world, where its users can fund event contracts through cryptocurrency, debit or credit cards and bank transfers.

Restrictions vary by country, but in the U.S., the reach of these markets has expanded rapidly over recent years, coinciding with shifting policies out of Washington. Former President Joe Biden was aggressive in cracking down on prediction markets and following a 2022 settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Polymarket was barred from operating in the country.

That changed under Trump late last year, when Polymarket announced it would be returning to the U.S. after receiving clearance from the commission. American-based users can now join a platform “waitlist.”

Meanwhile, Polymarket’s top competitor, Kalshi, has been a federally-regulated exchange since 2020. The platform offers similar ways to buy and sell event contracts as Polymarket — and it currently allows event contracts on elections and sports nationwide. Kalshi won court approval just weeks before the 2024 election to let Americans put money on upcoming political races and began to host sports trading about a year ago.

The space is now crowded with other big names. Sports betting giants DraftKings and FanDuel both launched prediction platforms last month. Online broker Robinhood is widening its own offerings. Trump’s social media site Truth Social has also promised to offer an in-platform prediction market through a partnership with Crypto.com — and one of the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr., holds advisory roles at both Polymarket and Kalshi.

“The train has left the station on these event contracts, they’re not going away,” said Melinda Roth, a visiting associate professor at Washington and Lee University’s School of Law.

Loose regulation

Because they’re positioned as selling event contracts, prediction markets are regulated by the CFTC. That means they can avoid state-level restrictions or bans in place for traditional gambling and sports betting today.

“It’s a huge loophole,” said Karl Lockhart, an assistant professor of law at DePaul University who has studied this space. “You just have to comply with one set of regulations, rather than (rules from) each state around the country.”

Sports betting is taking center stage. There are a handful of big states — like California and Texas, for example — where sports betting is still illegal, but people can now wager on games, athlete trades and more through event contracts.

A growing number of states and tribes are suing to stop this. And lawyers expect litigation to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court, as added regulations from the Trump administration seem unlikely.

Federal law bars event contracts related to gaming as well as war, terrorism and assassinations, Roth said, which could put some prediction market trades on shaky ground, at least in the U.S. But users might still find ways to buy certain contracts while traveling abroad or connecting to different VPNs.

Whether the CFTC will take any of that on has yet to be seen. But the agency, which did not respond to request for comment, has already taken steps away from enforcement.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/prediction-markets-maduro-trades-1f47e737f915fff00c57f03e7390b41f

Becky Pepper-Jackson finished third in the discus throw in West Virginia last year though she was in just her first year of high school. Now a 15-year-old sophomore, Pepper-Jackson is aware that her upcoming season could be her last.

West Virginia has banned transgender girls like Pepper-Jackson from competing in girls and women’s sports, and is among the more than two dozen states with similar laws. Though the West Virginia law has been blocked by lower courts, the outcome could be different at the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which has allowed multiple restrictions on transgender people to be enforced in the past year.

The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in two cases over whether the sports bans violate the Constitution or the landmark federal law known as Title IX that prohibits sex discrimination in education. The second case comes from Idaho, where college student Lindsay Hecox challenged that state’s law.

Decisions are expected by early summer.

President Donald Trump’s Republican administration has targeted transgender Americans from the first day of his second term, including ousting transgender people from the military and declaring that gender is immutable and determined at birth.

Pepper-Jackson has become the face of the nationwide battle over the participation of transgender girls in athletics that has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans have leveraged the issue as a fight for athletic fairness for women and girls.

“I think it’s something that needs to be done,” Pepper-Jackson said in an interview with The Associated Press that was conducted over Zoom. “It’s something I’m here to do because … this is important to me. I know it’s important to other people. So, like, I’m here for it.”

She sat alongside her mother, Heather Jackson, on a sofa in their home just outside Bridgeport, a rural West Virginia community about 40 miles southwest of Morgantown, to talk about a legal fight that began when she was a middle schooler who finished near the back of the pack in cross-country races.

Pepper-Jackson has grown into a competitive discus and shot put thrower. In addition to the bronze medal in the discus, she finished eighth among shot putters.

She attributes her success to hard work, practicing at school and in her backyard, and lifting weights. Pepper-Jackson has been taking puberty-blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since she was in the third grade, though the Supreme Court’s decision in June upholding state bans on gender-affirming medical treatment for minors has forced her to go out of state for care.

Her very improvement as an athlete has been cited as a reason she should not be allowed to compete against girls.

“There are immutable physical and biological characteristic differences between men and women that make men bigger, stronger, and faster than women. And if we allow biological males to play sports against biological females, those differences will erode the ability and the places for women in these sports which we have fought so hard for over the last 50 years,” West Virginia’s attorney general, JB McCuskey, said in an AP interview. McCuskey said he is not aware of any other transgender athlete in the state who has competed or is trying to compete in girls or women’s sports.

Despite the small numbers of transgender athletes, the issue has taken on outsize importance. The NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees banned transgender women from women’s sports after Trump signed an executive order aimed at barring their participation.

The public generally is supportive of the limits. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in October 2025 found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults “strongly” or “somewhat” favored requiring transgender children and teenagers to only compete on sports teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with, while about 2 in 10 were “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed and about one-quarter did not have an opinion.

About 2.1 million adults, or 0.8%, and 724,000 people age 13 to 17, or 3.3%, identify as transgender in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

Those allied with the administration on the issue paint it in broader terms than just sports, pointing to state laws, Trump administration policies and court rulings against transgender people.

“I think there are cultural, political, legal headwinds all supporting this notion that it’s just a lie that a man can be a woman,” said John Bursch, a lawyer with the conservative Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom that has led the legal campaign against transgender people. “And if we want a society that respects women and girls, then we need to come to terms with that truth. And the sooner that we do that, the better it will be for women everywhere, whether that be in high school sports teams, high school locker rooms and showers, abused women’s shelters, women’s prisons.”

But Heather Jackson offered different terms to describe the effort to keep her daughter off West Virginia’s playing fields.

“Hatred. It’s nothing but hatred,” she said. “This community is the community du jour. We have a long history of isolating marginalized parts of the community.”

Pepper-Jackson has seen some of the uglier side of the debate on display, including when a competitor wore a T-shirt at the championship meet that said, “Men Don’t Belong in Women’s Sports.”

“I wish these people would educate themselves. Just so they would know that I’m just there to have a good time. That’s it. But it just, it hurts sometimes, like, it gets to me sometimes, but I try to brush it off,” she said.

One schoolmate, identified as A.C. in court papers, said Pepper-Jackson has herself used graphic language in sexually bullying her teammates.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-transgender-athletes-trump-title-ix-ee41b615b2a44c6b8dc24072a208265d

The photos seemed destined for posterity in Israel’s state archives.

In the snapshots, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is joined by his wife, Sara, as well as U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and a group of Israeli soldiers, as they light Hannukah candles at Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews pray. The leaders exchange triumphant looks.

But something is off.

Sara Netanyahu’s skin is poreless, her eyes overly defined and her hair perfectly coiffed — a look officials acknowledge is the result of heavy retouching.

Critics say the issue isn’t the use of photo-editing software, which is common on the social media accounts of celebrities and public figures. They say it’s the circulation of the images in official government announcements, which distorts reality, violates ethical codes and risks compromising official archiving and record-keeping efforts.

“All the pictures to this day in the archives in Israel are authentic pictures of reality as it was captured by the lenses of photographers’ cameras since the establishment of the state,” said Shabi Gatenio, the veteran political journalist who broke the story in The Seventh Eye, an Israeli site that covers local media. “These images, if entered into the database, will forever infect it with a virtual reality that never existed.”

Since the manipulation of images was revealed, the government has taken the unprecedented step of crediting Sara Netanyahu in its releases that include manipulated images. And it’s not clear if the official archive will include images of her taken during the second half of last year, when Gatenio said the editing appears to have begun.

Mrs. Netanyahu’s personal spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Nitzan Chen, director of the Government Press Office, told The Associated Press that images of the prime minister are never manipulated and that his office would not upload any retouched photos to the official archive.

Personal Photoshop habit enters political realm

Sara Netanyahu, 67, has long used photo-editing software on her images. Her social media account is filled with images in which her face appears heavily retouched.

But the topic raised eyebrows since her Photoshop habit entered the public record.

Gatenio said he first noticed this last July, when the couple visited President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., and again in September, as Sara Netanyahu joined her husband on the tarmac ahead of a trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly.

At the time, the prime minister’s office released a video of the send-off along with a photo, credited to Avi Ohayon, an official government photographer.

Comparing the photo to the raw video, Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley, said the image had been post-processed, bearing local manipulations to smooth her skin and remove wrinkles.

Since then, photos showing Mrs. Netanyahu meeting with Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, in Washington also appear to have been retouched, Farid said.

“There’s been some Photoshop editing to — let’s call it — ‘beautify,’ lighten, smooth the face,” Farid said.

“Is it nefarious? No. Is it a problem? Yes. This is about something bigger than, ‘she Photoshopped her face to make herself look younger.’ This is about trust. Why should I trust any official photo coming out of that administration?”

Chen, the head of the Government Press Office, said office lawyers are trying to determine how to handle and properly identify photos “processed by people other than GPO photographers.”

He said the Justice Ministry is also examining the “criteria, limitations and possibilities” of the edited images, though he stressed there is nothing illegal about touching up photos. The issue, he said, is being transparent when such changes are made.

For now, the Prime Minister’s Office has decided to add Sara Netanyahu’s name to press releases that include retouched images. Since November, press releases showing photos of her smiling next to Trump and the family of the last hostage in Gaza in Washington, visiting a Miami synagogue and attending a funeral for an Israeli mayor have included this label.

At least one outlet, the Times of Israel, has said it will no longer carry official state photos that appear to have been manipulated. The Associated Press does not publish images that appear to have been retouched or digitally manipulated.

A broader phenomenon

Chen said the prime minister is never edited: “No Photoshop, no corrections, no color. Nothing.”

While his face may not be retouched, the prime minister’s official Instagram account tells another story.

The page has posted a bevy of content that appears to be AI-edited or generated, including a picture of the couple with Trump and first lady Melania Trump celebrating the new year in Washington.

The photo raised suspicions in Israel because it shows Sara Netanyahu wearing a black dress absent from other photos of the event, where she wore a dark red frock. Appearing in the sky above the couples are brightly colored fireworks and American and Israeli flags that Farid said were “almost certainly” generated by AI.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/israel-sara-netanyahu-photos-217896b96d01bf5cfcd7aa606b5fa78e

Police said a gas explosion at a home following a wedding reception in Islamabad killed at least eight people, including the bride and groom.

An explosion at a house following a wedding reception in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has killed at least eight people, police said on Sunday.

Local authorities said that the blast, which is believed to have been caused by a gas leak, took place as members of the wedding party gathered at a house in a residential area in the capital.

What do we know about the blast in Islamabad?

Pakistani news channel Geo News cited police in reports that the blast took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Both the bride and groom and other family members were killed in the incident, while two neighbors also died.

Government administrator, Sahibzada Yousaf, said that authorities had been alerted to the blast early on Sunday and that police officials were still investigating.

Yousaf said some nearby homes were also damaged and that routes in the area had been closed to help emergency services operate.

The official said an investigation to determine whether it was a gas cylinder or an explosion due to a gas leak, was currently underway.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-gas-explosion-at-wedding-reception-in-islamabad-kills-8-including-newlyweds/a-75464404

Lord Mandelson has said he never saw girls at Jeffrey Epstein’s properties, and declined to apologise to the late paedophile’s victims for maintaining his friendship with the American because he was not “knowledgeable of what he was doing”.

In his first interview since being sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US over his links to Epstein, he told the BBC he thought he had been “kept separate” from the sexual side of the late financier’s life because he was gay.

He was fired after emails emerged showing supportive messages he had sent to Epstein after the American was convicted for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

The former ambassador said the only people he had seen at Epstein’s properties were “middle-aged housekeepers”.

He said he would have apologised were he “in any way complicit or culpable” but stressed that was never the case.

Epstein, a well-connected financier, died in a New York prison cell in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had previously been convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.

Asked on BBC’s One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg whether he would like to apologise to Epstein’s victims for continuing the friendship after that first conviction, he said: “I want to apologise to those women for a system that refused to hear their voices and did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect”.

“That system gave him protection and not them.

“If I had known, if I was in any way complicit or culpable, of course I would apologise for it. But I was not culpable, I was not knowledgeable of what he was doing.”

He continued: “I regret and will regret to my dying day the fact that powerless women, women who were denied a voice, were not given the protection they were entitled to expect.”

Lord Mandelson said he believed he was “kept separate” from Epstein’s sex life because of his own sexuality.

“Possibly some people will think because I am a gay man… I wasn’t attuned to what was going on. I don’t really accept that.

“I think the issue is that because I was a gay man in his circle I was kept separate from what he was doing in the sexual side of his life.”

He referred to one occasion he had spent one or two nights on Epstein’s infamous private island, as well as visits to Epstein’s New York and New Mexico properties.

“The only people that were there were the housekeepers, never were there any young women or girls, or people that he was preying on or engaging with in that sort of ghastly predatory way that we subsequently found out he was doing.”

“Epstein was never there,” he noted of his visits to the island.

The government sacked Lord Mandelson as its ambassador to the US after emails showed he had been in contact with Epstein after his first conviction, offering him support.

In the messages, which were published by Bloomberg and the Sun, Lord Mandelson was reported to have told Epstein to “fight for early release” and, the day before he began his prison sentence: “I think the world of you.”

No 10 sources said he had been “economical with the truth” before he was appointed and they were not aware of the “depth” of their relationship.

On Sunday, Lord Mandelson said the government “knew everything” when giving him the job, “but not the emails because they came as a surprise to me”.

“I didn’t remember sending them… they no longer existed on my server,” he said.

He said he understood why he had been sacked.

“The prime minister found himself in the middle of what must’ve seemed to him to have been some kind of thermonuclear explosion – I’ve been there, I know what goes on.

“I wish I’d had the opportunity to remind him of the circumstances of my relationship, my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and how I came to write the emails in the first place.

“I didn’t, so I understand why he took the decision he did, but one thing I’m very clear about is that I’m not going to seek to reopen or relitigate this issue. I’m moving on.”

Labour’s Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who was interviewed on the same programme, said Lord Mandelson had shown “at best, deep naivety” in his remarks.

“It would have gone a long way for the women who were subjected to the most appalling treatment at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein for Peter to have apologised and taken that opportunity,” she said.

There would “clearly be a discussion about due diligence before you appoint someone to such a role”, she said, but she understood the “detailed information” about their relationship was not available when he was given the job.

She said of his continued relationship with Epstein: “If somebody that I was associated with was in that situation, I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.”

Downing Street said the emails showed the “depth and extent” of the relationship was “materially different” to what they had known when appointing Lord Mandelson, particularly his “suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged was new information”.

“In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes, he was withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect,” it said.

A key architect of New Labour, Lord Mandelson has been in and out of British politics for four decades.

He held a number of ministerial roles from the election of Tony Blair – and had to resign from post twice – until Labour lost power in 2010.

Lord Mandelson, whose tenure as ambassador lasted just a few months, was also asked in the interview about his views on US President Donald Trump’s ongoing comments about his country needing to “own” Greenland.

While saying that he admired Trump’s “directness” in his political dealings, he said he did not believe the US president would “land on Greenland and take it by force”.

He added: “He’s not going to do that. I don’t know, but I’m offering my best judgement as somebody who’s observed him at fairly close quarters. He’s not a fool.”

He said the president had a close circle of advisers around him “reminding him that if he were to intervene, take Greenland, that would be completely counterproductive – and would spell real danger for America’s national interest”.

“We are all going to have to wake up to the reality that the Arctic needs securing against China and Russia. And if you ask me who is going to lead in that effort to secure, we all know, don’t we, that it’s going to be the United States.”

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9el4dw0z3o

Iran has warned it will retaliate if attacked by the US, as BBC sources and activists report hundreds of protesters have now been killed in an escalating government crackdown.

“Things here are very, very bad,” a source in Tehran said on Sunday. “A lot of our friends have been killed. They were firing live rounds. It’s like a war zone, the streets are full of blood. They’re taking away bodies in trucks.”

The BBC counted about 180 body bags in footage from a morgue near Tehran. The US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency says it has verified the deaths of 495 protesters and 48 security personnel nationwide.

Another 10,600 people have been detained over the fortnight of unrest, the agency says.

The US has threatened to strike Iran over the killing of protesters, and President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US “stands ready to help” as Iran “is looking at FREEDOM”.

Trump did not elaborate on what the US was considering. He has been briefed on options for military strikes on Iran, an official told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.

Other approaches could include boosting anti-government sources online, using cyber-weapons against Iran’s military, or imposing more sanctions, officials told the Wall Street Journal.

Iran’s parliament speaker warned that if the US attacked, both Israel and US military and shipping centres in the region would become legitimate targets.

The protests which began over soaring inflation are now calling for an end to the clerical rule of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s attorney general said anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of God” – an offence that carries the death penalty – while Khamenei has dismissed demonstrators as a “bunch of vandals” seeking to “please” Trump.

On Sunday the country announced three days of mourning for what it called “martyrs killed in Iranian national battle against the US and Israel”.

Staff at several hospitals have told the BBC they have been overwhelmed with dead or injured protesters in recent days.

BBC Persian has verified that 70 bodies were brought to one hospital in the city of Rasht on Friday night, while a health worker at a Tehran hospital told the BBC: “Around 38 people died. Many as soon as they reached the emergency beds… direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well. Many of them didn’t even make it to the hospital.”

The BBC and most other international news organisations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the Iranian government has imposed an internet shutdown since Thursday, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.

Some footage has emerged, including video showing rows of body bags at the Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Center of Tehran Province – a morgue in Kahrizak.

In one video from the site, about 180 shrouded or wrapped figures can be seen, the majority lying out in the open. Shouts and cries of distress can be heard from people who appear to be looking for their loved ones.

Footage has been blurred to protect the identities of the living, who could face further persecution from the authorities.

Several videos confirmed as recent by BBC Verify show clashes between protesters and security forces in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.

Masked protesters can be seen taking cover behind bins and bonfires, with a row of security forces in the distance. A vehicle that appears to be a bus is engulfed in flames.

Multiple gunshots can be heard, and what sounds like banging on pots and pans.

A figure standing on a nearby footbridge appears to fire multiple gunshots in several directions as a couple of people take cover behind a fence.

In Tehran, a verified video from Saturday night shows protesters taking over the streets in the Gisha district, the sound of banging on pots in Punak Square, and a crowd marching and calling for the end of clerical rule in the Heravi district.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the US and Israel for the unrest.

“They have trained certain individuals inside the country and abroad, brought terrorists into the country from outside, set mosques on fire, and attacked markets and guilds in Rasht, setting the bazaar ablaze,” he said without providing evidence.

However, footage authenticated by BBC Persian and BBC Verify confirms that Iran’s security officers have been shooting at gatherings of protesters in several areas. They include Tehran, the western Kermanshah province, and the southern Bushehr region.

Multiple verified videos filmed in the centre of the western city of Ilam last weekend also show security forces firing shots towards Imam Khomeini Hospital, where protesters were holding a rally.

Internet access in Iran is largely limited to a domestic intranet, with restricted links to the outside world. But during the current protests, authorities have for the first time severely restricted that too.

An expert told BBC Persian the shutdown is more severe than during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising in 2022.

Alireza Manafi, an internet researcher, said the only likely way to connect to the outside world was via Starlink satellite, but warned users to exercise caution as such connections could potentially be traced by the government.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Aden in southern Yemen on Saturday in support of the country’s main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council, which denied it was planning to disband.
Some held up photos of STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who has fled the country, while others chanted “southerner, raise your voice, independence or death”, a Reuters witness said.

The STC, a group backed by the United Arab Emirates, seized parts of southern and eastern Yemen in December in advances that heightened tensions with another Gulf power, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi-backed fighters have largely retaken the areas of southern and eastern Yemen that the STC had seized. Rashad al-Alimi, chief of the Saudi-backed Presidential Council, said in a televised statement on Saturday that all contested cities had been brought under their control.
People took to the streets despite Saudi-backed groups urging them on Friday not to do so.
“We have taken to the streets again… No one can silence us… Not Saudi Arabia, nor any other party or country,” one man told Reuters.
Another said: “This large public gathering is a powerful message and a popular referendum in the south for the Southern Transitional Council.”

The armed forces of the rival, Saudi-backed government said it would “strike firmly and decisively against anyone who seeks to tamper with security or disrupt public order,” without making any reference to the protests.

TENSIONS BETWEEN UAE AND SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia and the UAE used to work together in a coalition battling Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen’s civil war but the STC advances exposed their rivalry, bringing into focus big differences on a wide range of issues across the Middle East ranging from geopolitics to oil output.
An STC delegation travelled to the Saudi capital Riyadh earlier this week for talks that its leader, Zubaidi, skipped. The Saudi-led coalition accused the UAE of helping him escape on a flight that was tracked to a military airport in Abu Dhabi.
In an announcement broadcast on Saudi state media on Friday, one of the group’s members said the STC had decided to disband.

But in a statement issued on Saturday, the STC said it had held an “extraordinary meeting” following the announcement in Riyadh and declared it “null and void”, saying it had been made “under coercion and pressure”.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-main-separatist-group-denies-disbanding-2026-01-10/

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call an early general election, the head of her party’s coalition partner said on Sunday, after media reported she was considering a February vote.
It would be the first time for the conservative Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister and a fan of Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, to face the voters, giving her a chance to capitalise on the strong public approval ratings she has enjoyed since taking office in October.

Her tough stance on China has appealed to right-wing voters but has sparked a major diplomatic dispute with Japan’s powerful Asian neighbour.
Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, told public broadcaster NHK he had met with Takaichi on Friday and felt her view on the timing of an election had shifted to a “new stage”.

ELECTION WOULD COMPLICATE TAKAICHI’S SPENDING PLANS

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she made the decision as reported by the media,” Yoshimura said. The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday, citing government sources, that Takaichi was considering holding a snap election on February 8 or 15.
Yoshimura said he and Takaichi did not discuss the specific timing of any election.

Takaichi was mum on when she would call an election during an interview with NHK recorded on Thursday and aired on Sunday.
Takaichi, an advocate of big spending to boost Asia’s second-biggest economy, said she had just instructed her cabinet ministers to ensure the timely execution of the supplementary budget for the fiscal year through March and parliamentary approval of next fiscal year’s budget.
“At present, I am focusing on the immediate challenge of ensuring that the public feels the benefits of our stimulus policies aimed at cushioning the blow of inflation,” she said.
But Tetsuo Saito, head of the opposition Komeito, said a February election “would make it impossible to pass the budget by the fiscal year-end, at a time Japan’s economy faces a critical phase,” telling NHK he was surprised by the reports that Takaichi was considering dissolving parliament when it convenes on January 23.

Takaichi’s $783 billion spending proposal, her first budget as prime minister, includes her flagship spending programme. The yen fell against the dollar on Friday after the Yomiuri report on her election plans.
Japan’s economy has weathered the hit from higher U.S. tariffs, but stubborn food inflation has weighed on consumption.
If Takaichi cannot enact the budget by the end of March, her government would have to compile a stop-gap budget, which could delay execution of spending measures.

ECONOMIC RISK FROM CHINA DISPUTE

Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry issued a statement on Saturday urging regional election committees to start preparing in case of an early election. While the ministry said it was just responding to media reports, political analyst Shigenobu Tamura said the statement meant the election was a “done deal”.
Yoshihiko Noda, a former prime minister and head of the largest opposition group, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said he had expected Takaichi to pass the budget before calling an election but now felt she would dissolve parliament on January 23.

Another economic risk for Japan is its trade tension with China, which could deal a blow to its export-reliant economy if Beijing imposes curbs on vital rare earths.
Takaichi touched off the dispute in November by saying a Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could be deemed an existential threat to Japan, which could trigger a military response from Tokyo. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, a claim the island’s government rejects.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/japans-coalition-partner-head-signals-snap-election-may-be-nearing-2026-01-11/

Saifullah Kasuri, the deputy chief of Hafiz Saeed-led outfit and the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack, made the remarks while addressing school children in a function organised at a school in Pakistan. He also claimed that India is scared because of his presence and issued provocative threats against New Delhi.

A top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader has acknowledged the Pakistan Army’s explicit association with the LeT, saying he receives regular invitations from the Pakistan Army to participate in events held by the military and is invited by it to lead funeral prayers for its soldiers.

Saifullah Kasuri, the deputy chief of Hafiz Saeed-led outfit and the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack, made the remarks while addressing school children in a function organised at a school in Pakistan. He also claimed that India is scared because of his presence and issued provocative threats against New Delhi.

“The Pakistan Army invites me by sending an invitation… The Pakistan Army invites me to lead funeral prayers for its soldiers,” Kasuri told the gathering, in an undated video that has now surfaced.

His remarks contradicted repeated claims of Pakistan’s government to global actors regarding actions against terrorist factions operating within its borders. Kasuri’s public admission, while exposing the authenticity of Pakistan’s repeated statements on fighting terrorism, also clearly shows the cooperation between the military and proscribed groups and the extent of their involvement.

“Do you know India is scared of me?” the terrorist said. Earlier, while acknowledging that India’s Operation Sindoor destroyed terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, Kasuri had claimed that India had “made a mistake” by targeting terror camps and openly reiterated the outfit’s focus on Kashmir, declaring that the group would “never back down from the Kashmir mission.”

“India made a big mistake in Operation Sindoor by targeting only terrorist hideouts,” Kasuri was heard saying in an undated video.

The LeT deputy chief earlier in a rally had also said that he had become famous as he was being “blamed for being the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack”. “I was blamed as being the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack, now my name is famous in the entire world,” he said at a rally in Kasur in Punjab province.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pak-army-invites-me-let-deputy-chief-saifullah-kasuri-openly-admits-terror-army-nexus-2849979-2026-01-11

Netanyahu said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from the US.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published on Friday (Jan 9) that he hopes to “taper off” Israeli dependence on American military aid in the next decade.

Netanyahu has said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from the US.

“I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told the Economist. Asked if that meant a tapering “down to zero”, he said, “Yes.”

Netanyahu said he told President Donald Trump during a recent visit that Israel “very deeply” appreciates “the military aid that America has given us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacities”.

In December, Netanyahu said Israel would spend 350 billion shekels (US$110 billion) on developing an independent arms industry to reduce dependency on other countries.

In 2016, the US and Israeli governments signed a memorandum of understanding for the 10 years through September 2028 that provides US$38 billion in military aid, US$33 billion in grants to buy military equipment and US$5 billion for missile defence systems.

Israeli defence exports rose 13 per cent last year, with major contracts signed for Israeli defence technology, including its advanced multi-layered aerial defence systems.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Israel supporter and ‌close ally of Trump, said on X that “we need not wait ten years” to begin scaling back military aid to Israel.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/israel-netanyahu-us-military-aid-taper-dependence-5850276

Koji’s approach comes after Queensland was hit in March by Alfred, a downgraded tropical cyclone, which brought damaging winds and heavy rains, cutting power to hundreds of thousands.

Cyclone Koji crossed the far northeast coast of Australia on Sunday (Jan 11) and was downgraded to a tropical storm, but authorities warned of destructive winds and possible flooding.

Koji, a category one cyclone, crossed the coast between the towns of Ayr and Bowen in the state of Queensland, about 500km north of state capital Brisbane.

Koji has “weakened below tropical cyclone intensity”, the nation’s weather forecaster said on its website.

It said the system was now a tropical low, bringing wind gusts of up to 95kmh and heavy rainfall between the towns of Ayr and Mackay, a tourist hub and gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

Koji could still spark “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding” in the region, the weather bureau said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Koji was “expected to bring large amounts of rainfall to coastal areas of north Queensland and potentially inland areas”.

“Flash flooding is a major risk along a significant stretch of Queensland’s coast,” Albanese said in televised remarks.

Queensland state Premier David Crisafulli said the cyclone had already brought rainfall of up to 200mm to some areas overnight and was expected to result in heavy downpours over the next 24 to 48 hours.

“I do believe that people have prepared brilliantly for the rain that will come,” Crisafulli said on social media platform X.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/australia-queensland-cyclone-koji-storm-flood-wind-5850936

Ilia Malinin, ‌a red-hot favourite for gold at next month’s Milano-Cortina Olympics, cruised to a fourth consecutive national title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, while Madison Chock and Evan Bates captured a record seventh national ice dance crown.

Malinin, who separated himself from the field in St. Louis with a remarkable performance in Thursday’s short programme, returned to score 209.78 points in the free skate for a 324.88 total in his final tune-up for the Olympics.

The 21-year-old Virginia native has now won every competition he has competed at since the 2023 Grand Prix Final.

Malinin ‌said he was playing it a little safer while breaking in his new skates, ‌noting that he usually did it around the nationals.

“But these nationals were closer, because of the Olympics. I did not have a lot of time to get comfortable in them. Some days they can be good, some days they can be uncontrollable,” he said.

“So, I decided to play it safe here, to save my conditions, conserve my energy preparing for the Olympics. I do a lot of run-throughs at home, so it was really easy for me to not put in too much effort.”

Malinin needed only ‍152.53 points from his free skate to secure the win, but refused to hold anything back, and in doing so brought the St. Louis crowd to their feet with a flawless performance en route to winning by a 57.26-point margin.

Andrew Torgashev, who was fifth after the short programme, finished second with 267.62 points, while Maxim Naumov was third at 249.16.

Malinin will now turn his focus to following ​up compatriot Nathan Chen’s gold medal from the ‌2022 Beijing Olympics with one of his own.

Earlier, Chock and Bates won a fifth consecutive and record seventh national ice dance title to cement their status as gold-medal favourites for the Milano-Cortina Olympics.

With the win, the husband-and-wife ​duo surpassed Meryl Davis and Charlie White for the most U.S. ice dance titles of any team in the event’s history.

“Our performance today was ⁠definitely the best that we have skated the free ‌dance all year,” said Bates.

“It’s a great feeling going into a big event knowing that you’ve skated well at the previous ​competition, so we are going to roll with that momentum into Milan.”

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sport/figure-skating-malinin-chock-and-bates-reign-us-figure-skating-championships-5851026

North Korea recently accused South Korea of violating its airspace with a drone on January 4, escalating tensions ahead of a significant party meeting. The drone, reportedly from near Incheon, was shot down by North Korean military forces and was equipped with surveillance technology. North Korean media released images of the drone’s wreckage.

North Korea said Saturday that a South Korean drone violated its airspace earlier this month, the latest allegation likely to heighten tensions ahead of a key ruling party meeting in Pyongyang. According to the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, a drone entered North Korean airspace on January 4 and was shot down by its military. KCNA said the drone originated from an island near the South Korean city of Incheon and flew about 8 kilometers (5 miles) before being downed, reports Reuters.

The drone was equipped with surveillance cameras and was used to photograph what KCNA described as “major” North Korean facilities. The news agency published images showing wreckage of the drone, electronic components and aerial photos it said were recovered from the device.

KCNA said the incident followed a similar drone incursion in September, when another South Korean drone was shot down near Kaesong. It accused South Korea of continuing provocations despite a change in leadership in Seoul, calling the South its “enemy most hostile.”

The announcement comes as North Korea prepares for a major party congress expected to outline policy priorities for the next five years.

South Korea’s military denied responsibility, saying it does not operate the drone model shown by North Korean media and did not fly drones on the date cited by Pyongyang. It said it would investigate whether a civilian drone may have crossed the border.

“We have no intention of provoking North Korea, and we will continue to take practical measures and efforts to ease… tensions and build trust,” South Korea’s military said in a statement.

Since South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took office in June, North Korea has rejected efforts by his administration to re-engage and reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea expert Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification questioned Pyongyang’s claims, noting that the drone parts shown appeared to be low-cost consumer products and that the images released did not appear to have significant military value.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/north-korea-claims-south-korean-uav-violated-its-airspace-what-we-know-about-the-alleged-drone-incursion-article-153427048

The executive order signed by Trump is aimed at safeguarding Venezuelan oil revenue held in US Treasury accounts and blocking it from the country’s creditors.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday took another step to control future sales of Venezuelan oil by signing an executive order meant to declare a national emergency and safeguard Venezuelan oil revenue held in US accounts.

The executive order signed by Trump on Saturday effectively blocks the oil revenue from the Latin American country’s creditors and prevents its seizure to satisfy debts or other legal claims, according to a White House fact sheet. The goal is to ensure “these funds are preserved to advance US foreign policy objectives”.

The emergency order said the revenue, held in foreign government deposit funds, should be used in Venezuela to help create “peace, prosperity and stability.” The order was signed on Friday, less than a week after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.

Several companies have longstanding claims against the country, such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, which left Venezuela nearly 20 years ago after their assets were nationalised under the Maduro regime. Both companies are still owed billions of dollars, according to Reuters.

What Does The Order Entail?

In its fact sheet, the White House said the executive order signed by Trump blocks any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process against Foreign Government Deposit Funds, which refers to the Venezuelan oil revenues and diluent sales held in US Treasury accounts.

The Order prohibits transfers or dealings in these funds except as authorised, superseding any prior Orders that might block or regulate them. It also says that the funds are sovereign property of Venezuela held in US custody for governmental and diplomatic purposes, not subject to private claims.

The Trump administration seeks to prevent the seizure of Venezuelan oil revenue that could undermine critical US efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela, according to the White House. It says that allowing attachment of these funds would directly jeopardise US objectives of halting illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/donald-trump-signs-executive-order-protecting-venezuelas-oil-revenue-held-in-us-accounts-ws-l-9822824.html

6 people were killed in shootings at 3 locations in Clay County, Mississippi. Sheriff Eddie Scott confirmed the suspect is in custody and urged prayers for victims and families.

At least six people were killed in a series of shootings late Friday in Clay County, Mississippi, with the suspect now in custody, local media and law enforcement said.

The shootings took place at three separate locations, according to WTVA, an NBC affiliate, which reported that six people died. Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said the suspect is “in custody and no longer poses a threat to our community,” though he did not confirm the number of fatalities.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/six-killed-in-mass-shooting-in-us-state-of-mississippi-suspect-in-custody-ws-l-9822737.html

Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir has died at the age of 78.

A family statement posted to the Instagram account of the band’s founding member on Saturday said he died “surrounded by loved ones.”

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement read, accompanied by a photo of the musician onstage.

“He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

The lengthy statement labeled Weir a “guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead and said he will “forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

“His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them,” it continued.

The statement noted that Weir was diagnosed with cancer in July, beginning treatment “only weeks before returning to his hometown stage for a three-night celebration of 60 years of music at Golden Gate Park.”

“An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design,” the statement read.

The statement closed with the hope that Weir’s legacy will “live on through future generations of Dead Heads.

“And so we send him off the way he sent so many of us on our way: with a farewell that isn’t an ending, but a blessing. A reward for a life worth livin.’”

“His loving family, Natascha, Monet, and Chloe, request privacy during this difficult time and offer their gratitude for the outpouring of love, support, and remembrance,” the family wrote.

“May we honor him not only in sorrow, but in how bravely we continue with open hearts, steady steps, and the music leading us home. Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.”

A rep for the band did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/01/10/celebrity-news/grateful-deads-bob-weir-dead-at-78/

An anti-regime protester scaled the balcony of Iran’s Embassy in London on Friday and tore down the Islamic Republic’s flag, replacing it with Iran’s pre-1979 “Lion and Sun” emblem, video shows.

The demonstrator climbed the front of the embassy building in Kensington before ripping down the regime’s flag and hoisting the historic symbol associated with Iran’s monarchy prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution as a large crowd of anti-regime protesters cheered on.

The Metropolitan Police said officers responded to the scene and made two arrests — one for aggravated trespass and assault on an emergency worker, and another for aggravated trespass.

Police said they are also seeking another individual for trespass.

It was not immediately clear whether the protester who tore down the flag was among those arrested.

Fox News Digital reached out to Iran’s Embassy in London for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The embassy protest comes as Iran faces its most significant wave of unrest in years.

President Trump has warned the regime that the U.S. will protect protesters if necessary.

Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian journalist, said the current unrest stands in sharp contrast to Iran’s 2009 Green Movement, when protesters openly questioned whether the Obama administration supported them.

“What a contrast to Obama’s time, when protesters in Iran were chanting, ‘Obama, are you with us or with them?’” Azarmehr told Fox News Digital.

“Any international support, whether at the grassroots or government level, is encouraging,” he said.

He said global attention matters to protesters on the ground, but questioned the lack of visible demonstrations by Western activist groups.

“The question is where are the Western activist elite protesters? Why are they not protesting? Are they on the side of the ayatollahs? An archaic religious apartheid?”

Demonstrations that began on Dec. 28 over economic grievances have since spread nationwide, evolving into a direct challenge to Iran’s clerical leadership.

Solidarity protests with Iranian demonstrators have also emerged in other major European cities, including Paris and Berlin.

A protest also took place outside the White House in Washington, D.C.

As of Saturday, at least 72 people have been killed and more than 2,300 detained in Iran-based protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Some protests have included chants supporting Iran’s former monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in 1980.

His son, Reza Pahlavi, has publicly called for continued demonstrations.

The Iranian regime has also cut nationwide internet access.

At a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure.

“Iran’s in big trouble,” Trump said.

“It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

Trump warned the United States would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence.

“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts,” Trump said.

“And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/10/world-news/protester-scales-iranian-embassy-in-london-tears-down-regime-flag-hoists-pre-revolution-symbol/

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing preliminary plans for an attack on Iran, including the option of large-scale airstrikes.

Officials are considering how to follow through on President Trump’s recent elevated threats against the Islamic Republic, including what sites might be targeted, insiders told the Wall Street Journal.

A massive aerial strike campaign on multiple Iranian military targets is one option being considered — although Washington has not reached consensus on a plan of action.

No military equipment or personnel have been moved for a potential attack, the insiders said.

The conversations do not indicate that the US will strike, with the sources explaining that the planning is routine.

Trump, however, teased that the US was gearing up to retaliate should Tehran continue killing protesters in a post on Truth Social.

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” he wrote Saturday. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”

A US attack on Iran would not be unprecedented — Trump ordered the first-ever US strike on Iranian territory back in June.

The US dropped at least six “bunker buster” bombs across three sites, including Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment plant, a deeply fortififed facility hidden nearly 300 feet beneath a mountain.

The bombing came after Iran threatened to use its nuclear muscle against Israel during their 12-Day War, and was coordinated with the Jewish state’s own extensive attacks on Tehran’s military infrastructure.

The US military’s threat to intervene follows repeated warnings by Trump that the Washington would repsond in support of protestors should the Iranian regime continue to show violence against its civilians.

“You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” Trump warned Friday.

In response, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Trump of having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” in remarks aired Friday.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/10/world-news/trump-admin-to-carry-out-preliminary-attack-plans-on-iran-considering-what-sites-to-target/

The US used a powerful mystery weapon that brought Venezuelan soldiers to their knees, “bleeding through the nose” and vomiting blood during the daring raid to capture dictator Nicolas Maduro, according to a witness account posted Saturday on X by the White House press secretary.

In a jaw-dropping interview, the guard described how American forces wiped out hundreds of fighters without losing a single soldier, using technology unlike anything he has ever seen — or heard.

“We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” the guard said. “The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.”

Moments later, a handful of helicopters appeared — “barely eight,” by his count — deploying what he estimated were just 20 US troops into the area.

But those few men, he said, came armed with something far more powerful than guns.

“They were technologically very advanced,” the guard recalled. “They didn’t look like anything we’ve fought against before.”

What ensued, he said, was not a battle, but a slaughter.

“We were hundreds, but we had no chance,” he said. “They were shooting with such precision and speed; it felt like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute.”

Then came the weapon that still haunts him.

“At one point, they launched something; I don’t know how to describe it,” he said. “It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside.”

The effects were immediate and horrific.

“We all started bleeding from the nose,” he said. “Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon — or whatever it was.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a question regarding whether Karoline Leavitt’s sharing of the post — captioned, “Stop what you are doing and read this…” — indicated the administration was verifying the veracity of the eyewitness account.

An estimated 100 Venezuelan security forces were killed in the Jan. 3 attack, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

It is unclear if any of those were caused by the mystery weapon.

The outmatched defenders were helpless as the small US unit wiped them out, the guard said.

“Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us,” he claimed. “We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The military has had directed energy weapons — which neutralize targets using focused energy such as microwaves or laser beams — for years, but this could be the first time it’s been used in combat by the US, an ex-US intelligence source told The Post. China reportedly used a microwave weapon in 2020 against Indian soldiers during a border dispute in Ladakh.

The source noted that those weapons have capability to produce at least some of the symptoms, including “bleeding, inability to move or function, pain and burning.”

“I can’t say all of those symptoms. But yes, some,” the source said. “And we’ve had versions for decades.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/10/world-news/us-used-powerful-sonic-weapon-in-venezuela-during-raid-to-capture-madouro-incredible-witness-account/

The US and its partner forces have carried out large-scale strikes against Islamic State (IS) group targets in Syria, the US Central Command (Centcom) has announced.

US President Donald Trump directed the strikes on Saturday, which are part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, in retaliation to the IS’s deadly attack on US forces in Syria on 13 December, Centcom wrote on X.

The strikes were conducted in an effort to combat terrorism and protect US and partner forces in the region, according to Centcom.

“Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” Centcom said.

The US and its partner forces fired more than 90 precision munitions at more than 35 targets in an operation that involved more than 20 aircraft, an official told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

The official added that aircraft including F-15Es, A-10s, AC-130Js, MQ-9s and Jordanian F-16s had taken part in the strikes.

The location of the strikes and the extent of any casualties is not yet clear.

“We will never forget, and never relent,” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X on Saturday in reference to the military action.

The Trump administration first announced the Operation Hawkeye Strike in December after an IS gunman killed two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter in an ambush in Palmyra, located in the centre of Syria.

“This is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said when announcing the operation in December.

“The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people.”

Prior to the latest strikes on Saturday, US forces killed or captured nearly 25 IS group members in 11 missions between 20 December and 29 December as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, Centcom said.

In the operation’s first mission on 19 December, US and Jordanian forces carried out a “massive strike” against the IS group, deploying fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery to strike “more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria”, according to Centcom.

That operation, it said, “employed more than 100 precision munitions” targeting known IS infrastructure and weapons sites.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly9597r4qpo

DONALD Trump is ready to unleash the full force of US power as he eyes up a “hitlist” of targets to create a new world order, experts say.

After the extraordinary capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the US president issued a swathe of stark warnings against countries within America’s sphere of influence.

Trump has marked up Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Greenland and Iran as targets after the opening salvo on Venezuela – and is preparing for another hit soon, experts fear.

In a veiled warning, the US president told reporters this week: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”

Retired US army general Ben Hodges told The Sun: “Trump thinks we got screwed over by the international order after World War II. He’s looking at all of this in terms of a deal. His philosophy is… ‘this is ours’.”

Reviving the Monroe Doctrine – spun as the “Donroe Doctrine” – Trump’s threats have been described as an attempt to create an American “empire”, in a bold return to 18th century world order.

Hodges, who formerly commanded US Army Europe, said: “I don’t know what kind of timeline they’re working on. But I cannot dismiss it like I would have last week. I can absolutely not assume this is a bluff.

“He captured two Russian flagged oil tankers this week – that didn’t just happen, that has been in the works for days.”

Trump’s threats come days after the US snatched Venezuelan despot Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from Caracas.

Operation Absolute Resolve unfolded under the cover of darkness when some 150 military aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and reconnaissance planes, took off from 20 military bases and Navy ships.

In a series of fast-moving events, the capital was rocked by explosions.

Former Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis told The Sun Trump is ready to use “lethal military power” to get what he wants.

He said: “When you have a success like President Trump did in Venezuela, there is this blood in the water effect, like with a shark. It becomes a frenzy, they just start grabbing everything.

He added: “Trump has made it clear he wants complete control over the country of Venezuela and its ability to produce oil.

“It sets a precedent of, ‘we will take what we want and I’ll kill whoever I need to to get it’.

“Now we’re already saying we need to go into Colombia, into Greenland, strangle Cuba and even Mexico is getting caught in the cross hairs.”

Lt Davis described America’s weekend operation in Venezuela as “flawless”, incurring “hardly any cost”.

He said: “And then in the UK, Keir Starmer… muttered and stumbled. And some of the other European leaders, there’s really silence on this.”

Just hours after the operation, Trump turned to Venezuela’s neighbours to the West, Colombia, and warned of possible military action.

He said: “Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long.”

Asked if military action was an option, he replied: “It sounds good to me.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro hit back, goading Trump to “come get me”.

Petro has since said he considers US military intervention a “real threat”, citing historic land grabs from the US like Panama.

A former member of the M19 guerrilla group, Petro said he would himself fight to defend Colombia.

He said: “I swore not to touch a weapon again … but for the homeland I will take up arms again.”

He referred to Colombia’s track record of responding to “large armies” throughout history, despite being dwarfed in defences.

He said: “Instead, we rely on the masses, our mountains, and our jungles, as we always have.”

Colombia is home to huge oil reserves and is a major producer of gold, silver, emeralds, platinum and coal.

It is also a key hub for the region’s drug trade – most notably cocaine.

Cuba – longstanding Venezuelan allies – has also been singled out by Trump.

But, he said, military intervention won’t be needed because the state is “ready to fall” on its own.

Trump said: “Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it. Cuba literally is ready to fall.”

While militarily difficult, Hodges identified Cuba as a “plausible target”.

He said: “Secretary Rubio would be driving this as a son of Cuban refugees, and by the significant political power of Cuban Americans in the state of Florida – a critical state in US politics.

“Trump would love to be the guy that finally liberated Cuba. JFK didn’t do it, Regan didn’t do it and Obama didn’t do it.”

Closer to home, Trump has fired threats of imminent drone strikes in Mexico to attack the cartels.

He said: “We are gonna start now hitting land with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico, it’s very sad to watch what’s happened to the country.”

The US president has persistently accused Mexico of not doing enough to clamp down on drug cartels, saying “we’re going to have to do something”.

He has been locked in a standoff with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, who has repeatedly rejected US intervention.

Asserting US power across Latin America, Trump has revived policies crucial to American intervention in the Western Hemisphere throughout the 19th century – the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary.

The approach was announced in the US national security strategy in November last year, as a “Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine”.

Monroe warned external powers against encroaching on Americas backyard – while Roosevelt advised the use of military force to guarantee outcomes over legal texts.

Combining the two, Trump seeks to dominate the region through military, economic and political means in a fresh take on gunboat diplomacy.

Trump said on Sunday: “We are in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out.

“American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

Meanwhile, Trump continues to step up threats on the mineral-rich Greenland, dubbing the Danish territory a “national security priority”.

Denmark confirmed its troops will counter-attack an invasion without awaiting orders.

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he “stands” with Denmark after Trump’s threats of annexation adding that “only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark will decide its future”.

But White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller argued “nobody’s gonna fight” America over the future of Greenland.

Politics professor Anthony Glees told The Sun, if Trump storms Greenland with force, he could take it “in 24 hours”, in the “world’s shortest war”.

But Lt Davis, whose military career spanned four deployments including Afghanistan and Iraq, said direct military action in the territory would cross a “red line” in European relations.

He said: “There’s not a lot of defensive forces on there, so it wouldn’t be hard to take from a military perspective, but it would be massive politically to make that move.

“Will Trump risk going into military conflict and killing not just some people in the Caribbean that we don’t know anything about but Europeans?

“I think that would cross a red line that even the elites in Europe would not stand passive behind.”

While Trump hones in on targets to establish his new “America First” world order, the global landscape in the aftermath of the Venezuela operation hangs in the balance.

On Monday, a handcuffed and limping Maduro appeared in a US courtroom faced with federal charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy.

The US will “run the country” until a transition could be arranged, Trump announced, adding that American oil companies will move back into the region.

The president also left open the possibility of further US strikes in Venezuela if the interim leadership and President Delcy Rodriguez does not comply with his demands.

Just this week US forces seized three shadow tankers alleged to be carrying sanctioned oil, in a series of dramatic raids.

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, making up the countries main source of revenue.

It is a crucial energy partner for Russia, and China remains its biggest customer.

Both Beijing and Moscow, who formed an axis against US dominance, voiced their fury after Maduro was cuffed and dragged across the Americas to stand trial.

Thinktank Chatham House said Trumps strike will be used as a “pretext” for Russian President Vladimir Putin to double down on his aggression in Ukraine.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the US special forces operation was “in clear violation of international law and the basic norms in international relations”.

They then struck out with a damning four-word demand aimed at Trump: “Release them at once.”

Over in the Middle East, tensions are also flaring as Trump eyes up military action in Iran claiming the US is “locked and loaded”.

The region has been rocked by its biggest protests in years after the rial crashed to record lows, spiking inflation.

Clashes have erupted across at least 17 of Iran’s 31 provinces, with reports estimating 36 people have been killed.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protestors, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

He later declared the US will “start shooting” if Iran’s tyrannical regime continues to murder protesters.

Iran responded with equal fire – warning US intervention would cause chaos in the Middle East.

Trumps threats come just seven months after US bombers struck Iranian nuclear facilities.

In retaliation, Iran launched a missile attack on a major US military base in Qatar.

Whilst Trump has ramped up his rhetoric in recent weeks, the president has raised potential invasions and interventions before.

Four days into his second administration, Don sparked a frenzy over Panama’s sovereignty when he vowed to reclaim the canal.

The Panama Canal handles 5 per cent of global trade, but Trump claimed the US was being overcharged due to Chinese influence, and threatened to take the key trading route back by force.

America’s former military presence in Panama ended in 1999.

It was during this first week in office that Trump first raised a snatch of Greenland, throwing Denmark into crisis mode.

Trump has also repeatedly asserted that it would be in Canada’s interest to become America’s 51st state.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15738827/trump-capture-maduro-spark-us-expansion-ww3/

TRAVIS Kelce is going back to his roots — and it could lead to something really special.

With his Kansas City Chiefs enduring a nightmare NFL season that ended with no playoff push for the first time since 2014, the tight end has plenty of time on his hands.

A summer wedding to Taylor Swift is looming on the horizon.

But with the Chiefs now in offseason mode and his stellar career nearing completion, Kelce is plotting his next steps.

Early last year, he and brother Jason discovered his family has Croatian roots on mom Donna’s side.

It turns out her grandmother had Croat parents, as did her own mother.

A source close to Kelce said the brothers have been “incredibly excited and eager to dig deeper into that part of their heritage.”

So, with that in mind, the three-time Super Bowl winner is planning a trip to Europe and hopes his superstar fiancée will come along for the ride.

The insider says the A-list power couple have been “talking about it a lot,” and plans are already being hatched.

“Taylor already loves that part of the world, having visited before, and Travis is excited to take her there as part of this journey,” the source told the U.S. Sun.

“He wants to experience the country firsthand with her while researching his family history, learning more about Croatia, its culture, and its history.”

Kelce is said to be deeply invested in the process and genuinely excited to dig deeper into his family heritage.

The U.S. Sun has reported extensively on the 36-year-old’s burgeoning business interests, which include his smash-hit podcast New Heights being purchased by Amazon’s Wondery for $100 million, as well as dipping into the restaurant business with Chiefs pal Patrick Mahomes.

He’s always got his eye on the prize — and that won’t stop when he hits Croatian soil.

We understand that Kelce has been looking into real estate opportunities in Europe and is already eyeing a $5 million property in the Balkans.

The plan, says the well-placed source, is to have a home base in Croatia and then start investing in more properties to build a portfolio.

Mom Donna is reportedly delighted at the prospect of seeing her son delve deep into her family history.

“He hopes to connect with descendants of his family, visit the cities and villages where his ancestors lived, and gather as much information as possible to share with the rest of the family,” the source added.

“He jokes that he feels like a historian, describing this as one of the most important research projects of his young life, and he’s fully committed to getting to the bottom of it.”

His global superstar fiancée is also pumped at the prospect of learning how his ancestors may have lived.

He’s also keen to discover whether there are relatives still living there today.

“Taylor is loving the entire process and is excited to see Travis go through this experience. For both of them, it’s important to understand every part of each other’s history and to be proud of every branch of their family trees,” the source continued.

“Understanding his family’s story is essential. He wants to be able to pass that history on to his future wife and, eventually, to their children, so they know where they come from and feel proud of their heritage.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/sport/15756874/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-nfl-offseason-plans/

EU states gave the go-ahead on Friday for the bloc to sign its largest free trade accord with the South American group Mercosur, more than 25 years after talks began, following months of wrangling to secure enough support.
With U.S. President Donald Trump shaking up global trade, the European Commission and countries such as Germany and Spain argue the deal will help offset business lost from U.S. import tariffs, and reduce reliance on China by securing access to critical minerals.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hailed the EU’s clearance as a “historic day for multilateralism”.
“In an international scenario of growing protectionism and unilateralism, the agreement is a signal in favour of international trade as a driver of economic growth, with benefits for both blocs,” he posted on X.
Opponents led by France, the European Union’s largest agricultural producer, say the agreement will jack up imports of cheap food products, including beef, poultry and sugar, undercutting domestic farmers.

FARMERS MARCH, BLOCK HIGHWAYS

Farmers have launched protests across the EU, blocking highways in France and Belgium and marching in Poland on Friday.

France voted against the deal – but a sufficient majority of EU members backed the accord.
An EU diplomat and Poland’s agriculture minister said that 21 countries supported the agreement, with Austria, France, Hungary, Ireland and Poland against and Belgium abstaining. A minimum of 15 countries representing 65% of the bloc’s total population was required for approval.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed Friday’s vote as a “milestone” and said the deal would be good for Germany and for Europe.
“But 25 years of negotiations is too long. It’s vital that the next free trade agreements are concluded swiftly,” he said in a statement.
The approval clears the way for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to sign the agreement with Mercosur partners – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – in Asuncion. Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said the signing ceremony would take place on January 17.

The European Parliament will also need to approve the accord, finally concluded a year ago, before it can enter into force.

FRANCE SAYS THE BATTLE IS NOT OVER

The free trade agreement is set to be the European Union’s biggest in terms of tariff reduction, removing 4 billion euros ($4.66 billion) of duties on its exports. The Mercosur countries have high tariffs, such as 35% on car parts, 28% on dairy products and 27% on wines.
The EU and Mercosur will hope to expand evenly split goods trade worth 111 billion euros in 2024. EU exports are dominated by machinery, chemicals and transport equipment, and Mercosur’s are focused on agricultural products, minerals, pulp and paper.
To win over deal sceptics, the European Commission has put in place safeguards that can suspend imports of sensitive farm produce. It has strengthened import controls, notably regarding pesticide residues, established a crisis fund, accelerated support for farmers, and has pledged to cut import duties on fertilisers.
The concessions were not enough to convince Poland or France, but Italy shifted from a ‘no’ in December to a ‘yes’ on Friday, swinging the overall balance.
“It seems to me the balance that has been found is sustainable,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told a press conference.
Mathilde Panot, lower house chief of the far-left France Unbowed party, said on X that France had been “humiliated” by Brussels and on the world stage.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/eu-countries-expected-clear-signing-record-mercosur-trade-deal-2026-01-09/

The White House has indicated the US is prepared to allow India to purchase Venezuelan crude under a new, US-controlled export framework. A senior Trump administration official confirmed approval in principle, with details pending. Under the plan, Washington would market the oil and manage proceeds, potentially reopening trade frozen by years of American sanctions.

The White House has indicated that the United States is prepared to allow India to purchase Venezuelan crude oil under a new US-controlled export framework, a senior Trump administration official told the media. This marks a major shift in US policy toward Venezuela’s oil sector and could partially reopen trade that was largely frozen by American sanctions over recent years.

When asked directly whether Washington would permit India to resume purchases of Venezuelan oil, a commodity that once formed a meaningful part of India’s crude import basket, the senior official responded with a clear affirmative: “Yes,” while noting that the finer operational details are still being worked out.

US Open To Selling Venezuelan Crude To ‘Almost All Countries’

The official also referenced recent comments from US Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, who publically stated that the US would be open to selling Venezuelan crude to ‘almost all countries’ if done through a tightly controlled structure overseen by Washington, as reported by Fox Business.

Under this arrangement, Venezuelan oil would be marketed by the US government and proceeds would flow into accounts managed by US authorities, with the aim of preventing corruption and benefiting the Venezuelan people rather than the prior Maduro regime.

Before stringent American sanctions were imposed, India was one of Venezuela’s largest customers, Indian refiners regularly imported heavy Venezuelan crude to process in their complex refineries, where such grades are a good technical fit. Sanctions, however, curtailed these flows, reducing Venezuelan crude’s share of India’s overall imports to marginal levels in recent years.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/us-signals-green-light-for-india-to-buy-venezuelan-oil-under-new-controlled-framework

American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, as well as Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov, would be returning.

NASA crewmembers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) could return to Earth as soon as Thursday, the US space agency said, after a medical emergency prompted the crew to return from their mission early.

“NASA and SpaceX target undocking Crew-11 from the International Space Station no earlier than 5pm ET on Jan. 14, with splashdown off California targeted for early Jan. 15 depending on weather and recovery conditions,” the agency said in a post on X.

Details of the medical evacuation, the first in ISS history, were not provided by officials, though they said it did not result from any kind of injury onboard and that the unidentified crewmember is stable and not in need of an emergency evacuation.

The four astronauts on Nasa-SpaceX Crew 11 have been on their mission since August 1. These expeditions generally last around six months, and the crew was already due to return to Earth in the coming weeks.

American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, as well as Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov, would be returning, while American Chris Williams will stay onboard the international body to maintain a US presence.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/nasa-crew-11-splashdown-targeted-for-jan-15-after-medical-emergency-101768019754205.html

Elon Musk has said that critics of his social media site X are looking for “any excuse for censorship”, amid reports that X’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok was creating non-consensual sexualised images of people, including children.

Ofcom says it is conducting an urgent assessment of X in response, which has been backed by Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.

She described the sexual manipulation of images of women and children as “despicable and abhorrent”, adding that she would expect to see an update from Ofcom in “days”.

X has now limited the use of AI image function to those who pay a monthly fee, a change dubbed by Downing Street as “insulting” to victims of sexual violence.

The BBC has seen several examples of the free AI tool undressing women and putting them in sexual situations without their consent.

Ashley St Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk’s children, told BBC Newshour that Grok had generated sexualised photos of her as a child.

The conservative influencer said her image had been “stripped” to appear “basically nude, bent over”, despite her telling Grok that she did not consent to the sexualised images.

St Clair, who filed a lawsuit against Musk last year seeking sole custody of their child, accused the social media site of “not taking enough action” to tackle illegal content, including child sexual abuse imagery. “This could be stopped with a singular message to an engineer,” she said.

As of Friday morning, Grok was telling users asking it to alter images uploaded to X that “image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers”, adding users “can subscribe to unlock these features”.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We urgently made contact [with X] on Monday and set a firm deadline of today [Friday] to explain themselves, to which we have received a response.”

“We’re now undertaking an expedited assessment as a matter of urgency and will provide further updates shortly.”

Ofcom’s powers under the Online Safety Act include being able to seek a court order to prevent third parties from helping X raise money or be accessed in the UK – should the firm refuse to comply.

Kendall has said that Ofcom will have the government’s full support if it makes the decision to block X in the UK.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3kqzepp5zo

Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem said in a post on X, “The world’s criminals are on notice.”

The United States said on Friday that it seized another tanker in the Caribbean Sea that left Venezuela and tried to evade the US forces by breaking an American naval blockade aimed at preventing sanctioned oil from leaving Venezuela.

This is the fifth ship the US has seized in the recent weeks.

Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem said in a post on X, “The world’s criminals are on notice. Early this morning, the @USCG executed a boarding and seizure of the Motor Tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea. As another “ghost fleet” tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil, this vessel had departed Venezuela attempting to evade U.S. forces.”

She added that US Coast Guard coordinated closely with US’ Department of War, Department of State, and the Department of Justice to ensure a “safe, effective boarding consistent with law.”

“The ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality,” she said.

Indicating that such seizures will continue in the future as well, the Homeland Security said that the US coast guard will seized oil tankers carrying sanctioned oil, enforce US and international law, and “eliminate these funding streams for illicit activity including narco-terrorism”.

“We are deeply proud of the Coast Guard’s maritime fighting force for their relentless execution of this mission. This is owning the sea,” she concluded.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/us-says-seized-tanker-linked-to-venezuela-that-tried-to-evade-american-forces-5th-in-recent-weeks-101767969188533.html

A massive crowd of Israel supporters swarmed a popular Jewish bakery Friday to stand in solidarity with its owners after a group of employees demanded it cut its ties with the Jewish State.

The line for Breads Bakery’s Upper West Side outpost stretched down the block on Broadway, with some hungry crusaders wrapping themselves in the Israeli flag as they waited for hours.

“We’re pushing back quietly and with Jewish dignity against anti-Zionism and a hate moment,” said Elisha Fine, 34, one of the dozens who purchased a baked good at the store said in a show of good faith.

Fine admitted he rarely visits the Big Apple’s biggest Jewish bakery chain, but felt compelled to show support the day after The Post reported on the newly formed “Breaking Breads Union.”

Instead of just usual union complaints about working conditions and pay, the employees also insisted that the owners stop supporting Israel.

The list of demands from the union — which is made up of about a third of the bakery’s workers — included “an end to this company’s support of the genocide happening in Palestine.”

The bakery’s management has denied the “genocide” claims, saying “Breads Bakery is built on love and genuine care for our team. We make babka; we don’t engage in politics.” Breads has in the past baked for Jewish events, including a fund raiser that sent money from challah sales to Israel after the Oct. 7 terror attack.

Many people who showed up Friday — some wearing stickers that said Zionist — wanted to return that support to the bakers.

“That strikes me a lot like entryism: the way that people end up walking to a place and then try to change the culture dramatically,” said Fine, a born-and-raised Manhattan Jew.

“We’re perfectly fine with them having a union, but it’s not okay to make Israel politics a part of that.”

Fine, who runs a pro-Jewish art Instagram, encouraged other “open Zionists” to swarm the bakery’s Upper West Side location in a show of support for Jewish New York.

“To see this, it’s awful because I’m born and bred here. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Leonor Katz, 71, told The Post, calling the union’s demands “very upsetting.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/09/us-news/zionists-swarm-breads-bakery-after-pro-palestine-employees-unionize/

Fledgling Mayor Zohran Mamdani is already facing blowback for his tardy, halfhearted response to back-to-back police shootings – including friction with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, The Post has learned.

Mamdani – who backed off his ardent “defund the police” stance during the mayoral campaign – waited 16 hours before he released a statement addressing the bloody pair of police-involved shootings, despite being briefed by Tisch right after each unfolded roughly six hours apart Thursday.

The murky Friday morning statement further stoked fury by emphasizing an “internal investigation” would follow the shootings, which some insiders believed implied wrongdoing by NYPD officers, when such probes are par for the course, police sources said.

“I know many are eager for answers,” he wrote on X. “The NYPD is conducting an internal investigation — I will work with Commissioner Tisch to ensure this is as thorough and swift as possible.”

A visibly unhappy Tisch was spotted storming out of City Hall later Friday morning after meeting with administration officials while Mamdani was trying to defend his late response to reporters, multiple sources said.

“I take it very seriously the language that I use, and I think that in a situation such as this, you have to be very intentional in what you share,” Mamdani said during an unrelated event at Brooklyn College, where he handed out free tickets to the “Under the Radar” Festival ” theater festival.

The mayor just this week rushed to the scenes of two 5-alarm fires in Queens and The Bronx and delivered updates on each of the blazes alongside FDNY officials.

But the mayor didn’t make it to either of the harrowing life-or-death incidents Thursday, the first of which erupted just before 5:30 p.m. when a bloodied madman using cracked piece of a toilet as a makeshift blade barricaded himself in an eighth-floor room in Brooklyn Methodist Hospital with an elderly patient and a security guard.

Cops used Tasers on the blade-wielding patient — Michael Lynch, 62, a former NYPD officer who resigned in the 1990s — several times during a minutes-long back-and-forth in the blood-smeared room, police officials said.

The stun weapons weren’t effective, prompting the cops to use their guns, officials said. Lynch was later pronounced dead.

The second shooting unfolded at roughly 11 p.m. when cops on patrol in Manhattan were flagged down at the scene of an apparent road rage incident.

A motorist — 37-year-old Dmitry Zass, sources said — then walked out of a BMW, apparently with a gun in his hand, according to officials.

Cops opened fire and struck Zass, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Zass’ weapon turned out to be an imitation Sig Sauer handgun, according to a photo released by the NYPD.

Sources said Zass’ parents had called 911 before the run-in to report he was attacking his father with a gun. The parents got an order of protection against Zass the same day as the shooting, source said.

Details of both police-involved shootings were known to Mamdani for hours before he finally posted on X at 9:44 a.m.

“Last night’s shootings at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and in the West Village are devastating to all New Yorkers,” he wrote without mentioning that one of the people shot was out of control after being repeatedly tasered and the other waved a real-looking gun.

He then continued: “I know many are eager for answers. The NYPD is conducting an internal investigation — I will work with Commissioner Tisch to ensure this is as thorough and swift as possible.

“These tragedies are painful, whether they take place steps from our home or miles away. They are a reminder of the immense work that must be done to deliver genuine public safety — work Commissioner Tisch and I are undertaking together every day,” he concluded, with no words of support for the officers.

Sources familiar with how the day unfolded bemoaned Mamdani’s delayed vagaries, pointing out that NYPD top brass had been in constant contact with City Hall — including Mamdani, First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and his staff, and the communications team — providing real-time updates with photos and readouts of how the events unfolded.

One source was baffled by Mamdani’s remark about “genuine public safety.”

“I don’t know what else would be ‘genuine public safety’ other than protecting an elderly patient and a security guard from a person with a sharp weapon,” the source said.

Mamdani’s emphasis on the internal investigation also drew befuddlement, as they are routine when it comes to police-involved shootings.

“When the NYPD holds a press conference for an officer involved shooting, we always provide preliminary information to make clear that the Force Investigation Division will be handling the investigation,” an NYPD spokesperson said. “FID always investigates these incidents and we always state this.”

Tisch’s own statement on the incidents Friday read as a backhanded rebuke to Mamdani’s weak-sauce response.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/01/09/us-news/mamdanis-tardy-response-to-two-nypd-shootings-draws-blowback-including-a-miffed-commish-tisch/

Protests in Iran raged Friday night in the Islamic Republic, online videos purported to show, despite a threat from the country’s theocracy to crack down on demonstrators after shutting down the internet and cutting telephone lines off to the world.

At least 65 people have been killed in the protests that began in late December over Iran’s ailing economy and have morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in years.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as his supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television. State media later referred to the demonstrators as “terrorists,” setting the stage for a violent crackdown as in other protests in recent years, despite Trump’s pledge to back peaceful protesters with force if necessary.

Protesters are “ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States,” the 86-year-old Khamenei said to a crowd at his compound in Tehran. “Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei separately vowed that punishment for protesters “will be decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency.”

Late Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement condemning reported deadly violence against the protesters, and urged Iran to allow its citizens to express themselves without fear of reprisal.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi called on more Western governments to denounce Iran’s theocracy, saying it “has made cruelty a governing method.”

“Some still insist on romantic myths about this regime, treating it as a defender of the oppressed abroad,” Ebadi said in a statement. “But a government that shoots peaceful protesters … at home cannot claim moral authority anywhere.”

Trump has repeatedly pledged to strike Iran if protesters are killed, a threat that has taken on greater significance after the U.S. military raid that seized Venezuela’s former President Nicolás Maduro. The president suggested Friday any possible American strike wouldn’t “mean boots on the ground but that means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.”

“Iran’s in big trouble,” Trump said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago.”

He added: “I tell the Iranian leaders you better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”

Internet cut off

Despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls, short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas into Friday morning. The demonstrations restarted Friday night, but it wasn’t possible to immediately assess whether they continued at the same strength. The demonstrations happened even after security services warned families to keep their children home.

One online video showed a fire in the street near in the Saadat Abad area of northern Tehran, with what appeared to be thousands on the street.

“Death to Khamenei!” a man chanted.

The protests also represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, who called for the protests Thursday night, similarly called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. Friday.

Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.

So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 65 people while more than 2,300 others have been detained, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

“What turned the tide of the protests was former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s calls for Iranians to take to the streets at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday,” said Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Per social media posts, it became clear that Iranians had delivered and were taking the call seriously to protest in order to oust the Islamic Republic.”

“This is exactly why the internet was shut down: to prevent the world from seeing the protests. Unfortunately, it also likely provided cover for security forces to kill protesters.”

Source : https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-us-israel-war-economy-54e4024a0b9e6a9f3ab49153c8e28f05

As the nation mourns the 40 victims of the Swiss bar fire, authorities move forward with criminal investigation.

Switzerland held a national day of mourning on Friday (Jan 9) for the 40 people who died in an Alpine bar fire during a New Year’s Eve celebration, as prosecutors requested one of the managers to be placed in pre-trial detention.

Valais region’s chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said in a statement the detention of the man was needed to avoid a “risk of flight.” The man’s wife and co-manager will remain free under judicial supervision, the statement said.

A Swiss business register lists French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti as the owners of Le Constellation bar, in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana, where a fire broke out less than two hours after midnight on Jan 1. As well as the fatalities, 116 people were injured, many of them seriously.

Local media reported that Moretti was being held in custody pending the court’s decision after the couple were questioned by prosecutors in Sion on Friday morning.

Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the owners, who are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire.

A memorial service and a minute’s silence marked Friday’s national homage, while church bells across Switzerland rang out for five minutes. Across the country, people gathered to light candles, put down flowers for the victims and followed the national ceremony that was livestreamed on public television.

Speaking at the memorial ceremony in Martigny, Swiss President Guy Parmelin said that “the memory of that terrible night illuminates the faces of the 156 victims, their happy days, their carefree spirit.”

He added: “Our country is appalled by this tragedy. It bows before the memory of those who are no longer with us. It stands by the bedside of those who are about to embark on a long road to recovery.”

Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling. Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Fire safety inspections hadn’t been carried out since 2019.

The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.

An autopsy has been ordered for five of the six Italian victims and has been delegated to the prosecutors’ offices in Milan, Bologna, and Genoa, where the bodies of the victims have been returned.

“What happened is not a disaster: It’s the result of too many people who didn’t do their job or who thought they were making easy money,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said during a press conference on Friday. “Those responsible must be identified and prosecuted.”

Meloni said the State Attorney General’s Office has contacted the Swiss Attorney General to follow the investigation. She also confirmed that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has started a separate probe.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/switzerland-swiss-bar-fire-victims-new-years-5849241

WATCH as a ferocious fire tornado rips through Victoria as it scorches the landscape and burns everything in its path.

Three people remain unaccounted for as wildfires plunge communities into crisis, leaving more than 70,000 homes and businesses without power.

Dramatic footage shows red and orange flames, while columns of smoke fill the sky.

Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch confirmed firefighters are confronting as many as 30 active blazes statewide.

By Friday, conditions had reached breaking point.

The state’s fire danger rating surged to “catastrophic”, prompting the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to declare a statewide ban on all personal fires.

Authorities warned that extreme winds combined with temperatures soaring to 46 degrees Celsius would render any fires “undefendable”.

Victoria’s Premier, Jacinta Allan, said: “Today represents one of the most dangerous fire days that this state has experienced in years.”

One of the most destructive fires tore through bushland near the town of Longwood, burning more than 86,000 acres as flames advanced with terrifying speed.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Gill said two adults and one child were unaccounted for in Longwood after firefighters advised them to shelter at home, as it was too dangerous to flee.

“They alerted those people that the risks are great, the risks are so high that they needed to take shelter, that it was too late for them to leave,” Gill said.

“Later that afternoon, those same fire service representatives reattended the area to see the house they saw those three people standing in front of had been completely destroyed.

“Those three people remain unaccounted for. Those three people, we do not know at this point of time where they may be.

“That particular area in Longwood East where that house has been destroyed is still a hot spot, and we’re yet to be able to put the strike teams from the fire service into that to conduct an assessment for us.”

The fires have also destroyed significant community and residential infrastructure, including family homes, a community centre and a telephone exchange.

A separate blaze near Walwa swelled rapidly to around 49,000 acres, tearing through a pine plantation.

While no property damage has yet been reported there, authorities warn the situation remains volatile.

Dozens of nearby communities have been forced to evacuate, while large areas of Victoria’s parks and campgrounds have been closed as the emergency unfolds.

Fire authorities say the twin disasters were driven by a severe heatwave, producing the worst fire conditions seen in the state since 2019.

Meteorologist Sarah Sculley said heatwave conditions, increased fuel loads, dry lightning and sudden wind changes were all combining to create extreme and unpredictable fire behaviour.

In 2019, bushfires devastated large parts of southeastern Australia, killing 33 people in the disaster known as Black Summer.

In the wake of today’s fires, federal and state governments have announced snap emergency relief to support affected residents.

The assistance includes a one-off payment of $680 per adult and $340 per child to help cover the cost of essential items.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15757412/fire-tornado-destruction-australia-wildfires/

BILL Gates has shelled out $8 billion for his ex-wife’s charity five years after their bombshell split over his affairs.

Gates made the $7.88 billion donation to Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in 2024, The New York Times revealed.

The sum, one of the largest public donations ever recorded, was revealed in a new tax filing which shows the first specific financial terms of the couple’s high-profile split in 2021.

Melinda resigned from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in May 2024.

Upon leaving the charity, she suggested her ex donate $12.5 billion to a new charitable foundation she intended to create.

A representative for Pivotal told the Times the $12.5 billion agreement has been fulfilled, and the nearly $8 billion donation was part of that agreement.

It is unclear how the rest of the total was split.

Melinda set up her Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in late 2022, the year after the divorce.

At the end of 2023, it had $604 million on hand.

The pair dramatically split after 27 years together in 2021, embarking on what is considered the most expensive divorce settlement in the world.

Melinda received approximately $76 billion in assets.

Months later, details of Gates’ affair with a Microsoft employee were exposed.

The woman penned a letter to the company’s board in 2019, divulging details about the fling which began in 2000 and demanded that his wife Melinda “read it”.

Microsoft’s board investigated the women’s claims and deemed the relationship “inappropriate”, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

Gates suddenly quit the board in March 2020 while the investigation was still in progress – and before the board could make a formal decision on the matter.

Two further bombshell reports were then revealed, alleging Gates had routinely hit on staffers at Microsoft and at the philanthropic foundation he founded alongside his wife.

A separate shocking report claimed that Gates had sought marriage advice from Jeffrey Epstein, with whom he reportedly shared a “close” relationship, having first met the convicted sex offender in 2011.

Gates’ and Epstein’s friendship first came to light in 2019, months after Epstein killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on charges of child sex trafficking.

The two men reportedly spent time together on multiple occasions, flying on Epstein’s private jet – dubbed the “Lolita Express” – and attending late-night gatherings at his Manhattan home.

Gates has always denied witnessing any wrongdoing during any of his meetings with Epstein and previously said he “regrets” ever meeting with him. His spokesperson also claimed he did not know that the jet belonged to Epstein.

However, the Daily Beast reported that Gates would visit Epstein’s New York City Mansion to escape his unhappy marriage and the pair were reported to be “close.”

He allegedly visited the shamed money-manager dozens of times between 2011 and 2014.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15757897/bill-gates-8-bn-divorce-payout-melinda-split/

EAGLE-EYED Kylie Jenner fans have noted a huge new diamond on her finger – and are certain it’s an engagement ring.

According to fans, beauty mogul Kylie is engaged to her actor boyfriend Timothee Chalamet after spotting the dazzling sparkler in a new video.

She captioned it: “Got a fresh haircut don’t talk to meeeee.”

Fans took to TikTok to comment on the sassy video in which she’s swishing her long dark wavy hair.

Wearing a figure-hugging white vest top with a plunging neckline, the billionaire can be seen flicking her voluminous locks and giggling into the camera.

Applying lip gloss to her perfectly-preened face, the TV star rocked the ill-fitting giant diamond on her little finger.

One user wrote: “It HAS to be an engagement ring because it’s too big to be fitted for her pinky.”

“Mrs. Chalamet has never looked this beautiful. A touch of happiness made her glow,” noted a second.

“Mrsssss Chalamet looking soooo good!!!!” agreed a third.

A fourth fan simply wrote: “Kylie Chalamet.”

“Anyone else notice that ring turns to the side?” noted another viewer.

“I see that diamond on the pinky,” observer a different user.

“Let me see the ring, Kylieeeee,” begged another.

Super-Influencer Kylie, 28, and Hollywood actor Timothee, 30, finally made their official red carpet debut as a couple in May last year.

The smitten pair, who have been dating since 2023, attended the 70th David di Donatello Awards in Rome, Italy together.

The U.S. Sun previously revealed that Timothee and Kylie have yet to commit to living under the same roof, preferring instead to split their time between NYC and Los Angeles.

The Oscar-nominated star has a place in his native NYC as well as a $11 million house in Beverly Hills, while his billionaire Kardashian girlfriend has a $48 million mansion in nearby Holmby Hills.

But things are stepping up a gear and he has made room for his long-term girlfriend at his NY pad.

Kylie, who has two children with rapper Travis Scott, has the keys to his place in New York, and her man has full access to her home.

An insider says she has ‘so many clothes and shoes’ there that Timothee has had to move some of his own stuff into storage to make some ‘extra room’.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15757339/kylie-jenner-fans-engaged-timothee-chalamet-ring/