EXPERT PERSPECTIVE - Iran is experiencing its most consequential period of internal in years. Nationwide demonstrations driven by economic collapse, social grievance, and political frustration have been met with force, mass arrests, and near-total information control. The scale and coordination of the response suggest a regime that feels threatened but not unmoored, confident in its ability to absorb pressure while preventing fragmentation.
Venezuela's parliament has advanced a proposal to loosen the state's control over its oil industry and boost the private sector's role in the first major overhaul of the industry in years. The proposal to reform Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law was thrust upon the country after the abduction of former President Nicolas Maduro by the United States on January 3 and had generated significant interest across businesses and political parties.
The U.S. is no longer part of the World Health Organization. After the Trump administration declared its intention to pull the country out of the global public health agency one year ago, on Thursday it formally followed through, ending its commitment to the organization after 78 years. Withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO was one of Trump's day one priorities. Now, after the required one year notice period, the deed is done.
The helicopters over the Michoacan town of Cenobio Moreno, in the Apatzingan Valley, on Wednesday foreshadowed significant arrests by the Mexican government. Authorities were searching for Cesar Sepulveda, alias El Botox, one of the most notorious figures in organized crime in the state, accused of more than a dozen extortions and murders, including that of Bernardo Bravo, leader of the local citrus growers' association, at the end of last year. He was finally captured that night in the neighboring town of Santa Ana Amatlan.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
The U.S. is close to agreement with Ukraine on a peace plan, but has so far had little clear success in getting Putin on board, though he hasn't rejected it outright. Territorial control in eastern Ukraine will be the primary issue discussed in Abu Dhabi, sources say. Driving the news: White House envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and White House official Josh Gruenbaum met with Putin inside the Kremlin.
U.S. President Donald Trump, with his lust for Greenland and hectoring of Europe, thinks the world is at his mercy,and thatthe U.S. is invincible. He's right on the first point. But he discovered this week that he's wrong about the second one. In Davos at the World Economic Forum, Trump climbed down on his Greenland threats after his actions caused chaos in the markets.
Mass escape from al-Hol camp? Claim: A video allegedly showing a large escape of ISaffiliated detainees from al-Hol camp is circulating widely on multiple platforms in Arabicand English. The captions commonly claim: "Major prison revolt at al-Hol camp ISIS families are currently trying to escape." DW Fact check: False The video is old and does not show recent events. Al-Hol is a notorious camp where the SDF has held thousands of relatives of suspected IS militants.
Israel has spent more than two years attacking Gaza in its genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave. It has destroyed the majority of its housing and infrastructure, and killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, leaving the rest of Gaza's population facing a harsh winter with inadequate food, medicine, and shelter. And yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes committed in Gaza this week joined US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace,
The Syrian government says it has taken over control of al-Aqtan prison, a facility in the northeastern city of Raqqa housing a number of ISIL (ISIS) detainees, following the withdrawal of Kurdish-led SDF fighters under a ceasefire agreement. The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Telegram on Friday that officials from the Prisons and Correctional Facilities Administration had assumed control of the prison in the former SDF stronghold of Raqqa, and had begun an examination of prisoners' conditions and their records, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
After the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi in December and the funeral that drew hundreds of thousands of people into the heart of Dhaka, the nation briefly convulsed with grief. Then, as it almost always does, the emotion receded. Even martyrdom has a shelf life in public memory. Ordinary people, burdened by survival, do not grieve indefinitely. Mourning fades and life intrudes. Bangladesh has seen this before.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday dissolved parliament ahead of a snap general election on February 8 a vote that she hopes will provide her with a new mandate to negotiate the challenges facing the nation. Analysts caution, however, that Takaichi's solid approval ratings may not translate into support for her scandal-tainted Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), while a new opposition party has suddenly emerged as a viable alternative to the long-ruling LDP.
The Chinese Coast Guard launched a rescue effort to save Filipino sailors near the disputed Scarborough Shoal after their cargo ship capsized with 21 people on board. China and the Philippines were searching for survivors in the South China Sea on Friday after a vessel carrying 21 Filipinos on board capsized near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. "Two nearby Chinese Coast Guard vessels immediately went to help with rescue upon receiving orders," Chinese military said in an online post.
a week that began with a US threat to seize a European territory, whether by force or extortion, has ended with the promise of negotiation and therefore a return to normality. But that is a dangerous delusion. There can be no return to normality. The world we thought we knew has gone. The only question now is what takes its place a question that will affect us all, that is full of danger and that, perhaps unexpectedly, also carries a whisper of hope.
They actually eliminated the virus twice. The third time, when it showed up in a mutated form, it broke through. But fortunately, they already had a 98% vaccination rate. This is why I love New Zealand. People there are, for the most part, sane as opposed to the United States, where you had a 62% vaccination rate, and that's going down, going the wrong direction.
We have weapons that nobody knows about, and I say it's probably good not to talk about them, but we have some amazing weapons. That was an amazing attack. Don't forget, that house was in the middle of a fort, an army base, a big one, a lot of soldiers, and they came in and they did their job. We lost nobody.
The restart of the world's largest nuclear power plant was suspended in Japan on Thursday just a day after it went online for the first time in about 14 years, with the operator saying it does not know when the problem will be solved. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata province had been closed since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but operations to relaunch it began on Wednesday after it received the final green light from the nuclear regulator.
Active-duty force size is a tally of a country's uniformed troops: airmen, soldiers, sailors, special operators, and Marines. Armies, in particular, depend on size to gain and occupy ground. Militaries can also be a tool of domestic repression, a focus that undercuts its capabilities against an external foe. North Korea, for example, is one of the world's most repressive states, led by a dictator who has repeatedly threatened neighboring South Korea.
One of these was Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. In a panel conversation on Friday, Georgieva said that AI is already disrupting labor markets worldwide by shifting demand for skills employers seek, and might even boost earnings for some workers by improving productivity. But for others, especially younger people, the upshot is fewer entry-level tasks and a shrinking pool for jobs. For people new to the workforce, Georgieva said, AI is "like a tsunami hitting the labor market."
