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In an exclusive interview, Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera that the breakaway region of Somaliland has agreed to accept displaced Palestinians being relocated there in exchange for recognition. Somaliland officials have rejected the allegations.

Russia has accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone attack on a hotel and cafe where New Year celebrations were taking place in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the region, first made the claim in a statement on Telegram before Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and senior politicians later accused ⁠Ukraine of carrying out “a terrorist attack”.

Saldo also published photos of what he wrote was the aftermath of the attack, which Al Jazeera has not been able to verify.

At least one person’s body was visible in the images beneath a white sheet.

The building showed signs that a fierce fire had raged, and there were what appeared to be bloodstains on the ground.

In the statement, ​Saldo said three Ukrainian drones had struck the site of New Year ‌celebrations in Khorly, a coastal village, in what he said was a “deliberate strike” against civilians. He said many people were burned alive.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said initial information indicated that 24 people had been killed, and that 50 people had been injured.

“There is ‌no doubt that the attack was planned in advance, with ⁠drones deliberately targeting areas where civilians had gathered to celebrate New Year’s Eve,” the ministry said in a statement, calling the attack “a war crime”.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Telegram that ‌Ukraine’s backers in the West were ultimately to blame.

Senior politicians, including the speakers of both houses of Russia’s parliament, condemned Kyiv.

Kherson is one of the four regions in Ukraine ‍that Russia claimed as its own in 2022, a move Kyiv and most Western countries denounced as an illegal land grab.

Ukraine’s ‍military ‍did not comment on Moscow’s claim, but it said it had hit Russia’s Ilsky ⁠oil refinery in ​the Krasnodar region overnight, ‍adding that the results of the attack ‍were still ⁠being confirmed.

In a statement on Telegram, the military also said it hit the ​Almetyevsk ‌oil facility in Russia’s Tatarstan region.

The Almetyevsk facility is ‌more than 965km (600 ‌miles) from ⁠the nearest part of Ukraine, and even further ‌from the nearest territory currently controlled by ‍Kyiv.

Russia releases video of ‘attack’ on Putin’s residence

On Tuesday, Moscow claimed that Ukraine launched a long-range drone attack against one of President Vladimir Putin’s official residences in northwestern Russia, which Kyiv has denounced as a “lie”.

Russia’s Defence Ministry released a video on Wednesday of a downed drone it said was involved in the attack.

The night-time clip showed a man in camouflage, a helmet and a Kevlar vest standing near a damaged drone lying in snow.

The man, with his face covered, talks about the drone. Neither the man nor the Defence Ministry provided any location or date.

The video and claims could not be independently verified.

Peace talks

Kyiv has called the allegations of an attack on Putin’s residence a ruse to derail ongoing peace negotiations, which have ramped up in recent weeks on both sides of the Atlantic.

In his New Year’s address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a peace deal was “90 percent ready” but warned that the remaining 10 percent, believed to include key sticking points such as territory, would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live”.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday that he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Ukraine to discuss the “European peace process”.

“We focused on how to move the discussions forward in a practical way on behalf of [Trump’s] peace process, including strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” Witkoff said in a post on X.

Lead Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov also reaffirmed that European and Ukrainian officials plan to meet on Saturday, while Zelenskyy is due to hold talks next week with European leaders.

Russia’s attacks on Ukraine

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia attacked the Odesa region overnight, targeting civilian infrastructure in several waves of drone attacks, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.

In a post on Telegram, Kiper said a two-storey residential building was damaged and that a drone hit an apartment on the 17th floor of a high-rise building without detonating. No casualties were reported.

In its daily report, the air force said air defence forces had downed or suppressed 176 of 205 drones targeting Ukraine overnight.

It said 24 drone hits were recorded at 15 locations, and the attack was ongoing.

Police in the Netherlands were pelted with fireworks and faced an “unprecedented amount of violence” on New Year’s Eve, officers have said.

A 19th century church in Amsterdam was engulfed by fire in the early hours of New Year’s Day, although the cause of the blaze is not yet known.

The Vondelkerk, which overlooks the largest park in the city, the Vondelpark, has been a tourist attraction since it was built in 1872.

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, a 17-year-old boy and 38-year-old man were killed in fireworks incidents. In Bielefeld, Germany, local police said two 18-year-olds died after setting off homemade fireworks.

The head of the Dutch Police Union, Nine Kooiman, said she had been pelted by fireworks and other explosives on her shift in Amsterdam.

The amount of violence was “unprecedented” she said.

Reports of attacks against police and firefighters were widespread across the country.

Petrol bombs were thrown at police in the southern city of Breda. In Rotterdam, the city’s eye hospital said it had treated 14 patients, including 10 minors, for eye injuries. Two received surgery.

A 17-year-old boy from Nijmegen and a 38-year-old man from Aalsmeer were killed in fireworks incidents, local media reported.

In Amsterdam the 50-metre high tower of the historic Vondelkerk church collapsed. Authorities said the roof was badly damaged but the structure was expected to remain intact.

The neo-Gothic basilica was designed by architect Pierre Cuypers whose works also include the Rijksmuseum.

A ban on unofficial fireworks is due to come into force in 2026. According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, a record €129m (£112m) had been spent on them this year.

Demonstrators in Turkiye demand global pressure on Israel, calling the so-called ceasefire ‘a slow-motion genocide’ against Palestinians.

Hundreds of thousands of people are marching through Istanbul in a sweeping show of solidarity with Palestinians, condemning Israel’s genocide in Gaza and rejecting claims that a ceasefire has brought meaningful relief.

Protesters, many waving Palestinian and Turkish flags, converged on the city’s historic Galata Bridge on Thursday despite freezing temperatures.

The march, organised by civil society groups under the National Will Platform alongside Turkish football clubs, rallied under the slogan: “We won’t remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine.”

More than 400 civil society organisations joined the mobilisation, underscoring the scale of public anger at Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. Several major football clubs urged their supporters to attend, helping turn the rally into one of the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations Turkiye has seen since Israel’s war began.

Galatasaray football club chair Dursun Ozbek described Israel’s actions as a moral reckoning for the world.

“We will not get used to this silence,” Ozbek said in a video message shared on X. “Standing shoulder to shoulder against oppression, we come together on the same side for humanity.”

‘A slow-motion genocide’

Sinem Koseoglu, Al Jazeera’s Turkiye correspondent, reported from the Galata Bridge that Palestine remains a point of national consensus. She said the issue cuts across political lines, uniting supporters of the governing AK Party with voters from major opposition parties.

“Today people are trying to show their support on the very first day of the new year,” Koseoglu said, as crowds packed the bridge and surrounding streets.

Police sources and the Anadolu state news agency said about 500,000 people took part in the march.

The rally included speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain, who sang “Free Palestine” to a sea of raised flags.

For many demonstrators, the protest was also a rejection of Israel’s ceasefire narrative.

“These people here do not believe in the ceasefire,” Koseoglu said. “They believe the current ceasefire is not a real ceasefire, but a slow motion of the genocide.”

Turkiye has cut trade with Israel and closed its airspace and ports, but Koseoglu said protesters want sustained international pressure rather than symbolic measures.

“The main idea here is to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people and let the world not forget about what’s going on in Gaza,” she said, warning that many see the ceasefire as “very fragile”.

Turkiye has positioned itself as one of Israel’s sharpest critics and played a role in brokering a ceasefire announced in October by United States President Donald Trump.

Yet the pause in fighting has failed to halt bloodshed, with more than 400 Palestinians killed by Israel since the ceasefire took effect, and aid still being withheld from entering the besieged Strip.

Israel is revoking the licenses of 37 international organisations, forcing them to stop operations in Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud explains how the new restrictions will worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

The US says a search is underway for survivors after it bombed what it said was a suspected drug trafficking convoy. The attack is believed to have taken place off the coast of Venezuela.

As we enter 2026, one truth is impossible to ignore: children around the world are facing their greatest levels of need in modern history – just as the humanitarian system meant to protect them and their futures is battling some of its biggest challenges in decades.

The events of 2025 marked a dramatic rupture in global humanitarian and development efforts. When the United States abruptly halted foreign aid in January, billions of dollars vanished overnight. Critical programmes were suspended, offices closed, and millions suddenly lost access to food, healthcare, education, and protection. Overnight, lifelines that communities had depended on for decades were thrown into jeopardy – and children, as always, paid the highest price.

For international NGOs, the shock was immediate and severe. At Save the Children, we were forced to take some of the toughest decisions in our 106-year history. We had to close country offices, cut thousands of staff positions, and wind down life-saving operations. We estimated that about 11.5 million people – including 6.7 million children – would feel the immediate impacts of these cuts, while many more would be impacted in the longer term.

The aid cuts came at a time when children globally were already facing major challenges, from conflict to displacement, to climate change, with decades of progress at risk of being reversed.

The facts are startling. In 2025, one in every five children was living in an active conflict zone where children are being killed, maimed, sexually assaulted and abducted in record numbers. About 50 million children globally are displaced from their homes. Nearly half the world’s children – about 1.12 billion – cannot afford a balanced diet, and some 272 million were out of school.

These numbers point to a global failure. Behind each statistic is a child whose childhood is being cut short, a childhood defined by fear, hunger and lost potential.

For children, the collapse of aid was not an abstract budgetary decision, but it was deeply personal.  Health clinics closed, classrooms closed, and protection services disappeared just as violence, climate shocks and displacement intensified. Years of hard-won progress in child survival, education and rights were suddenly at risk of being undone, leaving millions of children more vulnerable to hunger, exploitation and violence.

The crisis also revealed the fragility of the global aid system itself. When humanitarian support is concentrated among a handful of government donors, sudden political shifts reverberate directly through children’s lives. The events of 2025 showed how quickly international commitments can unravel – and how devastating that can be for the youngest and least protected.

Yet amid this turmoil, something extraordinary happened.

In many places, families, teachers, health workers and local organisations found ways to keep learning going, to provide care, and to create spaces where children could still play, heal and feel safe. These efforts underscored a simple truth: Responses are strongest when they are rooted close to children themselves.

There were also moments of progress. In a year marked by pushback against human rights, important legal reforms advanced children’s protection – from a ban on corporal punishment in Thailand, to the criminalisation of child marriage and the passing of a digital protection law in Bolivia. These gains reminded us that change is possible even in difficult times, when children’s rights are put at the centre of public debate and policy.

Out of the shocks of 2025 has come a moment of reckoning and an opportunity: to adapt, to innovate, towards approaches that are more sustainable, more locally led and more accountable to the people they are meant to serve. For children, this shift is critical. Decisions made closer to communities are more likely to reflect children’s real needs and aspirations.

This period of reinvention has also revived difficult questions that can no longer be postponed. How can life-saving assistance be insulated from political volatility? How can funding be diversified so that children are not abandoned when a single donor withdraws? And how can children and young people meaningfully participate in decisions that shape their futures?

Innovation alone will not save children, but it can help. When digital tools, data and community-led design are used responsibly, they can improve access, accountability and trust. Used poorly, they risk deepening inequalities. The challenge is not technological — it is political and ethical.

Children do not stop wanting to learn, play or dream because bombs fall or aid dries up. In camps, cities and ruined neighbourhoods, they organise, speak out and imagine futures that adults have failed to secure for them. They remind us why our work – and our ability to adapt – matters so profoundly.

In Gaza this year, I witnessed the horrors that children are living through daily, with the war now raging for more than two years and most of the Strip covered in rubble. I saw children facing malnutrition at our healthcare clinics and heard how some now wish to die to join their parents in heaven. No child should ever be living under such terror that death is preferable. They are children, and their voices need to be heard.

If 2025 exposed the failures of the old aid model, 2026 must become a turning point. A different choice is possible — one that builds systems resilient to political shocks, grounded in local leadership and accountable to the children they claim to serve. The challenge now is to reshape our systems so that, no matter how the world changes, we can put children first, always, everywhere.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Deir el-Balah and Nuseirat, Gaza Strip – In her tent made of fabric sheets with a roof covered in white plastic tarp, Sanaa Issa tries to steal a quiet moment with her daughters.

Sanaa spoke to Al Jazeera as the new year approached, and with a ceasefire officially in place in Gaza. But, lying on a wet blanket in a tent with rain pouring down, Sanaa doesn’t have a huge amount to be positive about.

“We didn’t know whether to blame the war, the cold, or the hunger. We’re moving from one crisis to another,” Sanaa told Al Jazeera, describing a harsh year she, and other displaced Palestinians like her, have faced in the Gaza Strip.

Amid worsening humanitarian conditions, the once-ambitious hopes of Palestinians in Gaza, dreams of a better future, prosperity, and reconstruction, are gone. In their place are basic human needs: securing flour, food and water, obtaining tents to shield them from the cold, accessing medical care, and simply surviving bombardments.

For Palestinians like Sanaa, hope for the new year has been reduced to a daily struggle for survival.

Sanaa is a 41-year-old mother of seven, who has been solely responsible for raising her children after her husband was killed in an Israeli strike in November 2024, at the end of the first year of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“Responsibility for the children, displacement, securing food and drink, making tough decisions here and there. Everything was required of me at once,” Sanaa, who fled with her family from al-Bureij to Deir el-Balah, both in central Gaza, said.

Sanaa’s biggest challenge in 2025 was securing “a loaf of bread” and getting her hands on even a kilogram of flour every day for her family.

“During the famine, I slept and woke up with one wish: to get enough bread for the day. I felt I was dying while my children were starving before me, and I could do nothing,” she said bitterly.

The search for flour eventually saw Sanaa decide to go to the US-backed GHF aid distribution points that opened at the end of May across Gaza.

“At first, I was scared and hesitant, but the hunger we live through can force you to do things you never imagined,” Sanaa said, describing her weekly visits to the aid points.

Visiting the sites, which the US and Israel supported as alternatives to long-established aid organisations, was inherently dangerous. More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed in and around GHF sites, according to the United Nations, before the GHF officially ended its mission in late November.

But going to the sites wasn’t just a risk to Sanaa’s life, it was a path that “took away her dignity”, leaving lasting scars.

On one occasion, Sanaa was hit by shrapnel in her arm while waiting for aid at the Netzarim distribution point in central Gaza, and her 17-year-old daughter was injured in the chest at the Morag point east of Rafah.

But her injuries didn’t stop her from trying again, although she began to go alone, leaving her children behind in relative safety.

Desperation

The war in Gaza led to severe interruptions in food and humanitarian aid, the last of which began in late March 2025, eventually leading to the declaration of a famine. It continued until October 2025, gradually easing after the ceasefire announcement.

During this period, the United Nations officially declared a state of famine, confirming that parts of Gaza had entered catastrophic hunger stages, with acute shortages in food, water, and medicine, and high rates of malnutrition among children and pregnant women.

Thousands of residents had to search for food using dangerous methods, including by waiting for long hours at the GHF sites.

“Hunger lasted a long time; it wasn’t a day or two, so I had to find a solution,” Sanaa said. “Each time, people crowded in their hundreds of thousands. Some would spend the night there, hundreds of thousands of displaced people – men, women, children, old and young.”

“The scenes were utterly humiliating. Bombing and heavy gunfire on everyone, not to mention the pushing and fighting among people over aid.”

The crowds meant that Sanaa often returned to her tent empty-handed, but the rare times she brought back a few kilos of flour felt like “a festival”, she recalled.

“One time, I got five kilos [11 pounds] of flour. I cried with joy returning to my children, who hadn’t tasted bread for days,” she added.

Sanaa divided the five kilos over two weeks, sometimes mixing it with ground lentils or pasta dough. “We wanted to recite a spell over the flour so it would multiply,” she said with dark humour.

A heavy silence followed as Sanaa adjusted the plastic tarp over her tent against the strong wind, then said:

“We witnessed humiliation beyond measure? All this for what? For a loaf of bread!” she added with tearful eyes. “If we were animals, perhaps they would have felt more pity for us.”

Despite the hardships she has endured and continues to face, Sanaa has not lost hope or her prayers for Gaza’s future.

“Two years are enough. Each year has been harder than the previous one, and we are still in this spiral,” she added. “We want proper tents to shelter us in winter, a gas cylinder to cook instead of burning wood, we want life and reconstruction.”

“Our basic rights have become distant wishes at year’s end.”

The only survivor

Sanaa’s husband was one of the more than 71,250 Palestinians killed by Israel during the war.

Twenty-year-old Batoul Abu Shawish can count her father, mother, two brothers and two sisters – her whole immediate family – among that number.

Batoul comes into the new year wishing for only one thing: to be with her family.

Her heartbreaking loss came just a month before the end of the year, on November 22.

Despite the ceasefire, an Israeli bomb struck the home her family had fled to in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp.

“I was sitting with my two sisters. My brothers were in their room, my father had just returned from outside, and my mother was preparing food in the kitchen,” she recalled, eyes vacant, describing the day.

“In an instant, everything turned to darkness and thick dust. I didn’t realise what was happening around me, not even that it was bombing, due to the shock,” Batoul added, as she stood next to the ruins of her destroyed home.

She was trapped under the debris of the destroyed home for about an hour, unable to move, calling for help from anyone nearby.

“I couldn’t believe what was happening. I wished I were dead, unaware, trying to escape the thought of what had happened to my family,” Batoul said.

“I called for them one by one, and there was no sound. My mother, father, siblings, no one.”

After being rescued, she was found to have severe injuries to her hand and was immediately transferred to hospital.

“I was placed on a stretcher above extracted bodies, covered in sheets. I panicked and asked my uncle who was with me: ‘Who are these people?’ He said they were from the house next to ours,” she recalled.

As soon as Batoul arrived at the hospital, she was rushed into emergency surgery on her hand before she could learn about what had happened to her family.

“I kept asking everyone, ‘Where is my mom? Where is my dad?’ They told me they were fine, just injured in other departments.”

“I didn’t believe them,” Batoul added, “but I was also afraid to call them liars.”

The following day, her uncles broke the news to Batoul that she had lost her mother and siblings. Her father, they told her, was still in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

“They gathered around me, and they were all crying. I understood on my own,” she said.

“I broke down, crying in disbelief, then said goodbye to them one by one before the funeral.”

Batoul’s father later succumbed to his injuries three days after the incident, leaving her alone to face her grief.

“I used to go to the ICU every day and whisper in my father’s ear, asking him to wake up again, for me and for himself, but he was completely unconscious,” Batoul said as she scrolled through photos of her father on her mobile phone.

“When he died, it felt as if the world had gone completely dark before my eyes.”

‘Where is the ceasefire?’

Israel said that it conducted the strikes in Nuseirat in response to an alleged gunman crossing into Israel-held territory in Gaza, although it is unclear why civilian homes in Nuseirat were therefore targeted.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office and the Ministry of Health, around 2,613 Palestinian families were completely wiped out during the war on the Gaza Strip up until the announcement of the ceasefire in October 2025.

Those families had all of their members killed, and their names erased from the civil registry.

The same figures indicate that approximately 5,943 families were left with only a single surviving member after the rest were killed, an agonising reflection of the scale of social and human loss caused by the war.

These figures may change as documentation continues and bodies are recovered from beneath the rubble.

For Batoul, her family was anything but ordinary; they were known for their deep bond and love for one another.

“My father was deeply attached to my mother and never hid his love for her in front of anyone, and that reflected on all of us.”

“My mother was my closest friend, and my siblings loved each other beyond words. Our home was full of pleasant surprises and warmth,” she added.

“Even during the war, we used to sit together, hold family gatherings, and help one another endure so much of what we were going through.”

The understandable grief that has overtaken Batoul leaves no room for wishes for a new year or talk of a near future, at least for now.

One question, however, weighs heavily on her: why was her peaceful family targeted, especially during a ceasefire?

“Where is the ceasefire they talk about? It’s just a lie,” she said.

“My family and I survived bombardment, two years of war. An apartment next to our home in eastern Nuseirat was hit, and we fled together to here. We lived through hunger, food shortages, and fear together. Then we thought we had survived, that the war was over.”

“But sadly, they’re gone, and they left me alone.”

Batoul holds onto one wish from the depths of her heart: to join her family as soon as possible.

At the same time, she carries an inner resignation that perhaps it is her fate to live this way, like so many others in Gaza who have lost their families.

“If life is written for me, I will try to fulfil my mother’s dream that I be outstanding in my field and generous to others,” said Batoul, a second-year university student studying multimedia, who is currently living with her uncle and his family.

“Life without family,” she said, “is living with an amputated heart, in darkness for the rest of your life, and there are so many like that now in Gaza.”

Zohran Mamdani has been sworn in as mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim and the youngest person in generations to take the oath of office in the United States’ biggest city.

Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan just after midnight on Thursday, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.

“This is truly the honour and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.

The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.

He will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1pm (18:00GMT) by US Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in US politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.

In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.

In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.

Tensions with Trump

Mamdani will also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.

During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city and suggested that he should be deported.

He also called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” in a social media post.

But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said in the meeting, and the US president even came to Mamdani’s rescue as the two addressed reporters.

When a journalist asked Mamdani if he continued to view Trump as a fascist, the president stepped in.

“That’s OK. You can just say it. That’s easier,” Trump told Mamdani. “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”

Still, tensions between the two leaders remain.

Following the meeting, Mamdani said he still believed Trump is a fascist.

“That’s something that I’ve said in the past; I say it today,” Mamdani told NBC News.

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.

He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.

Still, Mamdani had minimal name recognition when he launched his mayoral campaign late last year.

However, in the lead-up to the Democratic primary, he quickly rose in the polls with a message focused on lowering the cost of living.

Mamdani ultimately defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo twice: once to clinch the Democratic nomination in June, and a second time in the November election.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – On Tuesday, the premises of Evercare Hospital in Bangladesh’s capital turned into a sombre focal point for a nation’s grief as news filtered out of the medical facility: Khaleda Zia, three-time prime minister and longtime leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was dead.

Khaleda had been receiving treatment at the hospital since the night of November 23.

Supporters, party leaders and common citizens stood silently in front of the hospital gates, wiping away tears and offering prayers. “The news made it impossible for us to stay at home,” said BNP activist Riyadul Islam. “Since there is no opportunity to see her, everyone is waiting outside. There are tears in everyone’s eyes.”

Her funeral at Dhaka’s Manik Mia Avenue on Wednesday drew tens of thousands of BNP supporters from across the country, alongside leaders of other political parties, interim government head Muhammad Yunus and foreign diplomats – underscoring the imprint of Khaleda’s legacy, and how it extended well beyond Bangladesh’s borders.

But beyond the grief, Khaleda Zia’s death marks a decisive political rupture for the BNP at a critical moment, say political analysts.

With national elections scheduled for February 12, the party is entering the campaign without the leader who remained its ultimate symbol of unity, even during years of illness and political inactivity.

Her passing pushes BNP into a fully post-Khaleda phase, concentrating authority and accountability on her son and acting chairperson, Tarique Rahman, as the party seeks to consolidate its base and compete in a reshaped political landscape following the July 2024 upheaval and the subsequent banning of the Awami League’s political activities.

Legacy as anchor, absence as test

For decades, Khaleda Zia’s relevance extended beyond formal leadership.

Even when absent from front-line politics, she functioned as the party’s moral centre and final authority, helping to contain factionalism and defer leadership questions.

Mahdi Amin, adviser to Tarique Rahman, told Al Jazeera that Bangladesh had lost “a true guardian”, describing Khaleda Zia as a unifying symbol of sovereignty, independence and democracy.

He said the BNP would carry forward her legacy through its policies and governance priorities if elected.

“The hallmark of her politics was a strong parliamentary democracy – rule of law, human rights and freedom of expression,” Amin said, adding that the BNP aims to restore institutions and rights that, he claimed, were eroded during the Awami League’s 15-year rule, between 2009 and 2024, under then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Khaleda’s longtime rival.

Amin insisted that Tarique has already emerged as a unifying figure, citing his role in coordinating the movement against Hasina and formulating a 31-point reform agenda aimed at restoring voting rights and institutional accountability.

Despite these assertions, however, analysts say Khaleda’s absence removes a critical layer of symbolic authority that long helped stabilise the BNP’s internal politics.

Writer and political analyst Mohiuddin Ahmed said Khaleda’s personal charisma played a key role in keeping the party energised and cohesive.

“That rhythm will be disrupted,” he said. “Tarique Rahman now has to prove his leadership through a process. His leadership remains untested.”

Ahmed noted that Khaleda herself was once an untested political figure, rising to national prominence during the mass pro-democracy movement of the 1980s that ultimately led to the fall of military ruler General Hussain Muhammad Ershad. Her husband, the then-President Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in 1981 during a failed military coup.

Ahmed argued that the February election could play a similar defining role for Tarique Rahman: Success would validate his leadership, while failure would intensify scrutiny.

A tougher electoral terrain

BNP’s challenge is compounded by a transformed opposition landscape.

For more than three decades, Bangladesh’s electoral politics were shaped by a near-binary rivalry between the Awami League and the BNP, a pattern that emerged after the fall of military rule in 1990 and hardened through successive elections in the 1990s and 2000s.

With the Awami League now absent – its political activities banned by the Yunus administration – that two-party dominance has fractured, forcing BNP to compete in a more crowded field that includes a strong alliance led by the Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s biggest Islamist force. The Jamaat coalition includes the National Citizen Party, launched by many of the youth leaders who drove the July 2024 mass movement that forced Hasina out of power and into exile in India.

“This will not be easy for BNP,” Ahmed said. “Post-July [2024] politics has changed the equation. New polarisation is emerging, and the dominance of two parties no longer holds,” he added.

Analysts also point to key uncertainties that linger: whether the election will be held on time, whether it will be peaceful, and whether major parties can ensure public confidence in the process.

Dilara Choudhury, a political scientist who observed both Khaleda and her husband closely, said Khaleda Zia functioned as a “guardian figure” for not just her party, but also the country, and that her death represents the loss of a senior stabilising presence in Bangladesh politics.

Tarique, Khaleda’s son, was in exile in the United Kingdom from 2008 until December 25, 2025, when he returned after a series of cases against him that were initiated by a military-backed government in power between 2006 and 2009, or by the subsequent Hasina government, were closed.

She argued that Tarique’s return to the country has reduced fears of internal division within the party and that his recent speeches – reaffirming Bangladeshi nationalism, rejecting authoritarianism and honouring victims of the 2024 July uprising violence – have reassured party supporters about ideological continuity.

“BNP and Awami League have both been personality-centred parties,” she said. “After Khaleda Zia, it is natural that Tarique Rahman occupies that space within the BNP.”

From legacy to verdict

Yet BNP leaders acknowledge that legacy alone will not determine the party’s future.

Allegations of extortion involving some party activists continue to surface – an issue that adviser Mahdi Amin described as mostly exaggerated, though he said the party plans to address it through stricter internal controls.

At the grassroots level, some party members say Tarique’s leadership transition will not be without challenges.

“It would be unrealistic to say there will be no difficulties,” said Kamal Uddin, senior joint secretary of the Chakaria upazila unit of Jubo Dal, the BNP’s youth wing, in Cox’s Bazar district. “In the past, there were disagreements with senior leaders who worked closely with Khaleda Zia – and even with Ziaur Rahman. That could be a challenge in decision-making. But I believe he will be able to manage.”

Kamal Uddin travelled with three other BNP activists from Cox’s Bazar, a coastal city on the Bay of Bengal about 350km (217 miles) south of Dhaka, to attend Khaleda Zia’s funeral on Wednesday.

Senior BNP leaders, however, dismiss doubts over Tarique’s authority.

Standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, who served as commerce minister in Khaleda Zia’s cabinet from 2001 to 2004, said Tarique’s leadership credentials were already established.

“His leadership has been proven,” Chowdhury told Al Jazeera earlier this month. “He is capable of leading the party effectively.”

As BNP prepares for the polls, analysts say the party’s ability to ensure discipline, project reform and contribute to a peaceful election will itself be a test of Tarique’s leadership.

A separate discussion has emerged on social media and among political rivals.

On November 29, ahead of his eventual return, Tarique wrote on his verified Facebook page that the decision to come home was not “entirely within his control” and not “under his sole control”. Critics interpreted this as raising questions about possible external influence – particularly India – on whether and when he would return.

BNP leaders rejected these claims, insisting his return was a political and legal matter tied to domestic realities rather than foreign negotiation, and that national interest would guide the party’s policy if it comes to power.

For many supporters, however, politics remains deeply personal.

Fifty-seven-year-old Dulal Mia, who travelled from the northeastern district of Kishoreganj to attend Tarique’s reception rally in Dhaka on December 25, still recalls the moment that made him a lifelong BNP supporter.

When he was a sixth-grader in 1979, he said, then-President Ziaur Rahman visited the paddy field where he was working and shook his hand. Ziaur Rahman is remembered for addressing drought by digging canals across the country and visiting remote areas barefoot, often without formal protocol.

“Tarique Rahman will have to carry the legacy of his parents,” Mia said. “If he doesn’t, people will turn away. The BNP’s politics is people’s politics – it began with Ziaur Rahman and was carried by Khaleda Zia for so long. I believe Tarique Rahman will do the same. Otherwise, it is the people who will reject him.”

Taiwan’s Lai pledges to defend national sovereignty after Beijing holds live-fire drills around island.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to achieve the “reunification” of China and Taiwan, calling Beijing’s long-held goal “unstoppable.”

In a New Year’s address delivered a day after China’s military wrapped up war games around Taiwan, Xi on Wednesday invoked the “bond of blood and kinship” between Chinese people on each side of the Taiwan Strait.

“The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable,” Xi said.

Xi also hailed the institution in 2025 of an annual “Taiwan Recovery Day”, marking the end of imperial Japan’s rule of the island at the end of World War II.

Xi’s speech came on the heels of two days of live-fire drills simulating a blockade of the island, in what officials called a “stern warning” against “separatist” and “external interference” forces.

The drills were the largest ever held around Taiwan in terms of geographical area.

The war games, codenamed “Justice Mission 2025”, came just days after the United States approved its largest-ever arms package to Taiwan, valued at $11.1bn.

China views self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory and has long pledged to bring the island under its control, using force if necessary.

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party maintains that the island is a de facto independent country, though it has not formally declared independence.

In his New Year’s Day address on Thursday, Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te pledged to “firmly” uphold national sovereignty and boost the island’s defences.

“In the face of China’s escalating expansionist ambitions, the international community is closely watching whether the people of Taiwan have the determination to defend themselves,” Lai said.

While Taiwan elects its leaders and has its own military, passport and currency, the island is officially recognised by just 11 countries and Vatican City.

China insists that countries do not officially recognise Taipei in order to maintain diplomatic ties with Beijing.

Although the US does not officially recognise Taiwan, Washington is committed to helping the island to defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.

While Washington is Taipei’s principal supplier of arms, the law does not stipulate any obligation to directly intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese blockade or invasion.

Opinion polls suggest a large majority of Taiwanese favour the status quo, with much smaller proportions supporting imminent moves towards formal independence or unification.

In his speech on Wednesday, Xi also hailed China’s innovation in industries including artificial intelligence and space.

“We sought to energise high-quality development through innovation. We integrated science and technology deeply with industries, and made a stream of new innovations,” he said.

“Many large AI models have been competing in a race to the top, and breakthroughs have been achieved in the research and development of our own chips. All this has turned China into one of the economies with the fastest-growing innovation capabilities.”

Happy New Year to all our readers!

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s second caption reads:

The Diefenbunker is a decommissioned military bunker (now a museum) built as an emergency shelter for the government of Canada. The facility, located in Carp (near Ottawa, Ontario), was built at the height of the Cold War and opened in 1961 by the Canadian Forces.

Also, a reminder:

Prime Directives!

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

It all began more than a decade ago. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were the pillars of a coalition created to fight the Houthis who had taken control in Yemen.

Over the years, that mission failed. Then the UAE set out to pursue its own long-term interests by supporting and arming a group called the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the south of Yemen.

But Riyadh stepped in to disrupt what it saw as a national security threat after the STC seized control of areas close to its borders.

The UAE was given 24 hours’ notice to withdraw – an ultimatum it agreed to.

So what does all this mean for the future of Yemen?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Abdul-aziz Al Ghashian – Senior non-resident fellow at Gulf International Forum

Alkharder Sulaiman – Southern Transitional Council spokesman

Andreas Krieg – Associate professor at the School of Security Studies, King’s College London

New Year’s Eve celebrations are unfolding across the world as countries move into 2026 one time zone at a time.

The first major cities to mark the new year welcomed midnight with fireworks over their waterfronts, and large crowds gathered at public viewing points.

As the night continues, countries across the Americas will close out the global transition with events stretching from Rio de Janeiro’s beaches to Times Square in New York City and beyond.

This gallery shows how people are marking the start of 2026 around the world.

The United States Department of the Treasury has issued a new round of sanctions aimed at isolating Venezuela’s oil industry, as part of President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against the South American country.

The sanctions announced on Wednesday target four companies and their associated oil tankers, which are allegedly involved in transporting Venezuelan oil.

Trump has claimed that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro leads a so-called “narco-terrorist” government that seeks to destabilise the US, a charge repeated in the latest sanctions announcements.

“Maduro’s regime increasingly depends on a shadow fleet of worldwide vessels to facilitate sanctionable activity, including sanctions evasion, and to generate revenue for its destabilizing operations,” the Treasury said on Wednesday.

Petroleum is Venezuela’s primary export, but the Trump administration has sought to cut the country off from its international markets.

Wednesday’s notice accuses four tankers – the Nord Star, the Rosalind, the Valiant and the Della – of helping Venezuela’s oil sector to circumvent existing sanctions, thereby providing the “financial resources that fuel Maduro’s illegitimate narco-terrorist regime”.

“President Trump has been clear: We will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“The Treasury Department will continue to implement President Trump’s campaign of pressure on Maduro’s regime.”

Claims on Venezuelan oil

The sanctions come a day after Washington imposed sanctions on a separate Venezuelan company it says assembled drones designed by Iran.

In recent months, the Trump administration has cited several motives for ratcheting up pressure against Venezuela, ranging from immigration to Maduro’s contested election in 2024.

Trump, for instance, has framed the pressure campaign as a means of stemming the trade of illegal drugs, despite Venezuela exporting virtually none of the administration’s main target, fentanyl.

Critics have also accused Washington of seeking to topple Maduro’s government to take control of the country’s vast oil reserves.

Trump officials have fuelled those suspicions with remarks seeming to assert ownership over Venezuela’s oil.

On December 17, a day after Trump announced a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, his top adviser, Stephen Miller, claimed that the US “created the oil industry in Venezuela”.

He suggested that the oil was stolen from the US when Venezuela nationalised its petroleum industry, starting in 1976.

That process accelerated after the 1998 election of socialist President Hugo Chavez, who reasserted state control over Venezuela’s oil sector, ultimately leading to the seizure of foreign assets in 2007.

That “tyrannical expropriation” scheme, Miller alleged, “was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property”.

Still, one major US oil company, Chevron, continues to operate in the country.

Trump has echoed Miller’s claims, writing online that the US “will not allow a Hostile Regime to take our Oil, Land, or any other Assets”.

He added that all of those assets “must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY”.

Military build-up in the Caribbean

In recent months, the Trump administration has tightened its focus on Venezuela’s oil industry, taking a series of military actions against tankers.

On December 10, the administration seized its first tanker, the Skipper, followed by a second seizure 10 days later.

The US military has reportedly been pursuing a third tanker as it crosses the Atlantic Ocean.

The attacks on the oil tankers come several months after the US began surging aircraft, warships and other military assets to the Caribbean region along Venezuela’s coast.

Since September 2, the US military has conducted dozens of bombing campaigns against alleged drug-smuggling boats in international waters in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, in what rights groups call extrajudicial killings.

More than 100 people have been killed, and the administration has offered scant legal justification for the attacks.

On Monday, Trump told reporters that the US had struck a “dock area” in Venezuela he claimed was used to load the alleged drug boats.

The dock bombing is believed to be the first of its kind on Venezuelan soil, though Trump has long threatened to begin attacking land-based targets.

While the administration has not officially revealed which agency was behind the dock strike, US media has widely reported it was conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

A picture has emerged that looks to show Iran’s Mohajer-6 drone has entered service, at least on a limited level, with the Venezuelan military. The Mohajer-6 can perform surveillance and reconnaissance missions and be armed with small guided munitions. The appearance of the image followed the announcement of new U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, directly related, in part, to the local assembly of Mohajer-6s in the latter country.

The image in question, seen below, began circulating on social media late yesterday, and is said to have been taken at the Venezuelan Air Force’s El Libertador Air Base (Base Aerea El Libertador in Spanish and often abbreviated as BAEL) in the context of an exercise. TWZ has not been immediately able to independently confirm where or when the picture was taken. El Libertador is situated relatively close to Venezuela’s Caribbean coastline, as well as the capital, Caracas. It is also notably home to the country’s remaining fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighters, which you can read more about here.

However, as mentioned, the U.S. government offered a separate confirmation of at least the presence of Mohajer-6s in Venezuela in its sanctions announcement yesterday.

“Venezuela-based Empresa Aeronautica Nacional SA (EANSA) maintains and oversees the assembly of QAI’s [Iran’s Qods Aviation Industries] Mohajer-series UAVs in Venezuela and has directly negotiated with QAI, contributing to QAI’s sale of millions of dollars’ worth of Mohajer-6 UAVs to Venezuela,” according to a press release from the U.S. Treasury Department. “The Mohajer-6, a combat UAV with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, is manufactured by QAI. EANSA was also involved in the assembly of aircraft that QAI sold to Venezuela.”

It is also well documented that Venezuela has been working to acquire Mohajer-6s since at least 2020, though there has not previously been any evidence of the drones actually being in the country. Venezuelan authorities have shown models of Mohajer-6s at official events in the past, including at EANSA’s facilities. Iran has also exported Mohajer-6s to several other countries, including Russia, which has employed them in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

A small mockup of a #Iran|ian UCAV Mohajer-6 was spotted during a speech by the #Venezuela|n President Maduro. The speech was about the future production of multiple-purpose drones. There is thoughts and now speculation that the #IRGC affiliated EP-FAB and EP-FAA flights took… pic.twitter.com/JOhIqK9YJy

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) November 20, 2020

Iran first unveiled the Mohajer-6 in 2016, and serial production is said to have begun in 2018. The drone has a high-mounted main wing, with a span of nearly 33 feet (10 meters), and a twin-boom tail configuration. The drone is just over 18 and a half feet (5.67 meters) long overall and is powered by a small internal combustion engine driving a single pusher propeller. It has fixed tricycle landing gear and takes off and lands like a traditional aircraft. It has a maximum takeoff weight of around 1,320 pounds (600 kilograms) and an endurance of 12 hours, according to the U.S. Army’s Operational Environment Data Integration Network (ODIN) training portal.

Mohajer-6s can be controlled by operators on the ground via line-of-sight links or fly along a preset route using a built-in autopilot. The drones are understood to carry a mix of electro-optical and infrared cameras to perform their surveillance and reconnaissance and strike missions, as well as to help with basic navigation. Small guided munitions can be carried on up to four pylons under each wing. Iranian media reports have also raised the possibility of the drones being capable of carrying electronic warfare packages.

Exactly how Venezuela’s Mohajer-6 might be configured is unknown. However, circa 2022, pictures also emerged that were said to show Iranian Qaem munitions, which are small guided glide bombs, on display in Venezuela. Qaem is one of the munitions that Iran has integrated onto the Mohajer-6.

Venezuela’s pursuit of the Mohajer-6 is also just one part of a larger push on the country’s part to bolster its drone arsenal, which traces back to the early 2010s and has been carried out with significant assistance from Iran. The Venezuelan armed forces have previously shown examples of another drone, referred to variously as the Arpia or ANSU-100, which was also referenced in the U.S. government’s newly announced sanctions yesterday. This design is a locally-produced derivative of the smaller Iranian Mohajer-2, which is primarily intended for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Venezuelan authorities have shown examples with underwing munitions, or mockups thereof, but whether this reflects a real capability is unclear. Venezuela has also acquired other weapon systems from Iran, including anti-ship cruise missiles and fast attack boats.

In general, the Mohajer-6 offers the Venezuelan military a new means for conducting aerial surveillance and reconnaissance, and likely armed attacks, with an appreciable endurance. The drones could help patrol the country’s Caribbean coast and inland borders, and potentially offer a way to immediately strike targets of opportunity. In an actual conflict, they could also help bolster the country’s limited traditional tactical aviation capabilities.

“Between 2009-16, Venezuelan drones were used mainly for surveillance and patrol. Since 2022, with the development of the ANSU-100, the focus has shifted: the drones not only observe, they can attack,” according to a detailed report earlier this year from the Miami Herald on Venezuelan drone developments, in general. “Analysts describe this as an ‘Iranization’ of Venezuela’s military doctrine, seeking to compensate for conventional shortcomings through armed drones and what are called ‘loitering’ munitions, or suicide drones. These are expendable unmanned aerial weapons with a built-in warhead that can hover over a target area before crashing and exploding on a target.”

It is possible Mohajer-6s, as well as ANSU-100s, could be employed as longer-range kamikaze drones, and in significant volumes where they could be particularly effective in overwhelming defenders. At the same time, doing so on any real level would require a steady pipeline of new drones, and come at a commensurate cost. Venezuela is also known to be pursuing a purpose-built long-range kamikaze drone, the Zamora V-1. The V-1’s design is at least heavily inspired by Iran’s delta-winged Shahed series, if it is not just a direct clone or derivative. This reflects a global trend in the fielding of Shahed-type drones, with and without Iranian assistance, including now in the United States. Shahed has become something of a household name, in no small part because of Russia’s extensive use of a growing number of variants and derivatives of them in the conflict in Ukraine.

When it comes to Mohajer-6s, how many Venezuela currently has is unknown, and the capability of that force to perform any mission set at present is unclear.

In general, the Venezuelan government is certainly in a position now where having any kind of increased aerial surveillance coverage, both internally and offshore, and more flexibility to respond to threats kinetically, would be a major boon. Last Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump disclosed a first-of-its-kind covert attack on a target inside Venezuela, which was later reported to have been carried out somewhere along that country’s coast by a CIA drone, as you can read more about here.

There also continues to be the prospect of more overt U.S. military action against Venezuela amid a massive ongoing buildup in the region, ostensibly tied to expanded counter-drug operations, which TWZ has been tracking very closely. Especially with their ability to operate across longer distances via autopilot, armed Venezuelan Mohajer-6s (or ones turned into kamikaze drones) would present a potential threat to American forces in and around the Caribbean. Even if the danger they pose is very limited, it is still one that U.S. commanders would have to take into account, along with other threats that TWZ has highlighted previously.

The Venezuelan military’s efforts to acquire Mohajer-6s also underscore its general interest in expanding its drone capabilities, which could further grow into a more complex deterrent as time goes on. The delivery of large numbers of Shahed-type drones, in particular, would create major complications for American forces at sea and on land. The Shahed-136’s range is at least around 1,000 miles, more than enough to get to Puerto Rico, as well as other U.S. operating locations around the Caribbean. Iran has also claimed that the drones can fly out to 1,500 miles, which would put areas of southern Florida in reach. Large numbers of U.S. aircraft and other assets are currently sitting largely out in the open in sites in the region. For years now, TWZ has been highlighting the risks that kind of posture creates, especially to drone attacks. Uncrewed aerial systems also present very real and still growing threats to ships.

The video below includes a montage of clips from Iranian state media showing Shahed-136s being employed during an exercise.

Баражуючий іранський боєприпас «Shahed 136»

Otherwise, American authorities make no secret of the fact that they are engaged in a steadily escalating pressure campaign targeting the country’s dictatorial President Nicolas Maduro and his regime. Earlier this month, this effort expanded to include a maritime blockade targeting the Venezuelan oil sector, which has included seizing oil tankers.

All of this may well have provided new impetus in Venezuela to get even a limited number of Mohajer-6s in actual service. With the appearance of the picture said to show one of the drones at El Libertador, more details may now begin to emerge.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

New telecommunications cable damage discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone.

Finnish authorities have seized a vessel suspected of intentionally severing undersea telecommunications cables amid fears of Russian sabotage in the Gulf of Finland.

The seized cargo vessel Fitburg was en route from the Russian port of St Petersburg ⁠to Israel at the time of the incident on Wednesday, Finnish Border Guard officials said at a news conference in Helsinki.

The Fitburg was dragging its anchor in ‌the sea and was directed to Finnish territorial waters, the police and Border Guard said.

Helsinki police opened an investigation into potential aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

The Fitburg’s 14 crew members were from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and were all detained by Finnish police, investigators said. The ship sailed under the flag of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a statement.

Part of the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland is bordered by Estonia, Finland and Russia. The area has been hit by a string of similar incidents in recent years.

The undersea cable belongs to telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered to be critical underwater infrastructure for Finland.

The company said in a statement the cable damage has “not affected the functionality of Elisa’s services in any way”, noting services have been rerouted. Earlier, Elisa said it had detected a fault in its cable and reported it to Finnish authorities.

NATO has boosted its presence in the Baltic with frigates, aircraft and naval drones in recent years.

“We remain in contact with the Finnish authorities through exchange of information via the NATO shipping centre located at our Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, UK,” an official at the military alliance said.

A deliberate act?

Estonia’s Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs said a second telecoms cable connecting ‌the country to Finland also suffered an outage on Wednesday. It’s unclear whether the incidents are related.

“I’m concerned about the reported damage. … Hopefully it was not a deliberate act, but the investigation will clarify,” Estonian President Alar Karis said on X.

Energy and communications infrastructure, including underwater cables and pipelines, have been damaged in the Baltic Sea in recent years.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many security analysts and political leaders have viewed cable sabotage as part of a “hybrid war” carried out by Russia against NATO countries and their allies.

On Christmas Day 2024, the Cook Islands-registered oil tanker Eagle S cut five cables in the Gulf of Finland after dragging its anchor on the seabed for 90km (56 miles).

In October, Helsinki’s District Court ruled it did not have jurisdiction to hear a case against the ship’s three senior officers. It said it was up to the vessel’s flag state or the defendants’ home countries – Georgia and India – to try them

Finnish prosecutors have appealed the ruling.

Bulgaria is saying goodbye to the lev and officially adopting the euro, but some citizens worry that shops will round up when changing currencies, making everything more expensive. Al Jazeera’s Aksel Zaimovic explains their concerns.