TODAY

The United States has issued a warning to Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, writing that it would consider action should the temporary governing body compromise the Caribbean nation’s security.

In a sternly worded social media post on Thursday, the US embassy in Haiti maintained that its goal was the “establishment of baseline security and stability”.

“The US would regard any effort to change the composition of the government by the non-elected Transitional Presidential Council at this late stage in its tenure (set to expire on February 7) to be an effort to undermine that objective,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote.

He added that the US would respond if such changes to the council were to occur. His statement, however, failed to identify the precise circumstances that prompted the warning.

“The US would consider anyone supporting such a disruptive step favoring the gangs to be acting contrary to the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people and will act accordingly,” Landau said.

Haiti continues to struggle with the ravages of widespread gang violence, instability and corruption in its government.

But the US threat is likely to send shudders throughout the region, particularly in the aftermath of the January 3 attack on Venezuela.

The administration of President Donald Trump has repeatedly advanced the notion that the entire Western Hemisphere falls under its sphere of influence, as part of a policy it dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine”, a riff on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine.

Trump has referenced that premise to justify the use of US military force to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as well as to claim the US needs to control Greenland.

A political crisis

Located some 11,000 kilometres (800 miles) southeast of the US, Haiti has long struggled with instability. It is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, as it continues to suffer from the legacy of foreign intervention, dictatorship and natural disasters.

But in 2021, the country faced a new crisis when President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Federal elections have not been held since, leading to a crisis of confidence in the government. The last federally elected officials saw their terms expire in 2023.

Experts say the lack of leadership has allowed Haiti’s gangs to flourish, and since the Moise assassination, they have taken control of vast stretches of the territory, including up to 90 percent of the capital.

The resulting violence has forced more than 1.4 million Haitians from their homes. Millions more suffer from food insecurity, as thoroughfares are often restricted by gang-led roadblocks.

This week, a United Nations report found that, between January and November of last year, an estimated 8,100 people were killed in the violence. That marks an escalation from 2024, when the yearly total was 5,600.

But efforts have been made to restore the country’s stability. The Transitional Presidential Council was designed as a temporary governing structure to set the framework for new federal elections. Established in 2024, it has nine members who rotate to serve as chair.

Very quickly, however, the council faced criticism for its membership – largely selected from the country’s business and political elite – and allegations of corruption swirled. Infighting has also broken out among the members.

The US too has added to the tensions on the council. In November, it announced visa restrictions against an unnamed government official, later identified in the media as one of the council’s members, economist Fritz Alphonse Jean.

While the council had been slated to hold tiered elections starting last November, it failed to meet that benchmark, and the first vote has been postponed to August.

In the meantime, the council’s mandate is set to dissolve on February 7, and the panel’s future remains unclear.

UN calls for action

In this week’s report on Haiti, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres linked Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian crisis to the vacuum in its government.

“Violence has intensified and expanded geographically, exacerbating food insecurity and instability, as transitional governance arrangements near expiry and overdue elections remain urgent,” Guterres said.

Another UN representative – Carlos Ruiz-Massieu, who leads the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) – was also emphatic about the immediate need for transparent democratic processes and unified governance.

“Let us be clear: the country no longer has time to waste on prolonged internal struggles,” he said.

Still, in a speech on Wednesday to the UN Security Council, Ruiz-Massieu added that there have been “encouraging” signs ahead of this year’s scheduled elections. He applauded efforts to increase voter registration, including in Haiti’s diaspora, and encourage political participation among women.

But Ruiz-Massieu underscored that security concerns, including gang violence, could impede the democratic process, and that there was more work to be done before elections could be held.

“Achieving this goal will require sustained coordination among relevant institutions, predictable financing of the electoral process and security conditions that allow all voters and candidates to participate without fear,” he said.

The UN also signalled it would bolster its multinational security support mission in Haiti with more troops later this year.

Rafael Tudares Bracho, who is married to Gonzalez’s daughter, was imprisoned shortly before ex-President Nicolas Maduro’s third inauguration.

The son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has been released from prison in the South American country.

The release of Rafael Tudares Bracho on Thursday comes as the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez gradually reduces the number of political prisoners held in Venezuela’s prisons.

The move has been widely seen as a concession to the administration of United States President Donald Trump, which has kept military assets deployed off the country’s coast and threatened Venezuelan officials if they do not comply with US demands.

Rodriguez was sworn into office shortly after Trump authorised the abduction of her predecessor, former President Nicolas Maduro, on January 3. Members of the opposition coalition expressed joy at the news of Tudares Bracho’s release.

“After 380 days of unjust and arbitrary detention — having endured more than a year of the inhumane reality of enforced disappearance — my husband Rafael Tudares Bracho returned home this morning,” Edmundo Gonzalez’s daughter, Mariana Gonzalez, wrote on the social media platform X.

“It has been a stoic and profoundly difficult struggle.”

The elder Gonzalez stood against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election after the opposition’s elected nominee, Maria Corina Machado, was barred from running. Election tallies released by the opposition and verified by independent observers showed Gonzalez winning the race, despite Maduro’s claims of victory.

Tudares Bracho was arrested in January 2025, just days before Maduro’s inauguration for a third term, following what his wife has called a “sham” 12-hour trial on charges of “conspiracy, terrorism and criminal association”.

His release comes as the families of Venezuelan prisoners hold vigils at prisons across the country, demanding the release of their loved ones.

Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organisation, Foro Penal, has verified the release of 145 people it considers to be political prisoners, though at least 775 more remain in detention.

Edmundo Gonzalez, who has remained in exile since the 2024 election, posted a video on social media hailing his son-in-law’s freedom and calling for the release of other Venezuelans who he said remain unjustly detained.

“It would be a mistake to reduce this event to a personal story,” he said. “There are still men and women who remain deprived of their liberty for political reasons, without guarantees, without due process, and in many cases, without truth.”

The Trump administration has so far avoided backing opposition figures to lead Venezuela after Maduro’s abduction.

The US has instead emphasised working with Rodriguez and other officials from Maduro’s government to ensure stability, while it pursues extraction from Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, has walked a careful line since her boss’s abduction, initially striking a defiant tone with her domestic audience that has gradually morphed into more conciliatory messaging.

She and Trump held their first call last week, when she also met CIA director John Ratcliff. Shortly after, Rodriguez called for the government to open its state-run oil industry to more foreign development, a key Trump demand.

The world’s rules-based order is ruptured, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said, in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that avoided mentioning United States President Donald Trump.

While Trump hit back at Carney, the Canadian leader’s words have been widely praised and analysed.

So, is he right?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Lionel Barber – Former editor of The Financial Times

Bessma Momani – Professor of political science at the University of Waterloo

Donnacha O Beachain – Professor of politics at Dublin City University

Traitors, agents of foreign powers, and hitmen with superior electronics and sophisticated weapons interfere with communications, murder dozens of our compatriots, kidnap the elected president, defame him, and prepare for the transition by dividing up the country behind closed doors. The spoils are not bad at all: the largest fossil fuel reserves on the planet, stolen without asking the opinion of their owner, the sovereign [Venezuelan] people.

A human avalanche interrupts the looting and reinstates the legitimate authorities. They brandish their secret weapon before the cameras: a little blue book called the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. We are, of course, talking about April, 2002. That Fundamental Law is still in force. Let us consult it.

The question arises of whether a foreign leader, who does not even speak our language, can dictate policy to Venezuela and its authorities. In this regard, the Constitution states: “Article 1. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is irrevocably free and independent and founds its moral patrimony and values of liberty, equality, justice, and international peace on the doctrine of Simón Bolívar, the Liberator. Independence, liberty, sovereignty, immunity, territorial integrity, and national self-determination are inalienable rights of the Nation. Article 5. Sovereignty resides inalienably in the people, who exercise it directly in the manner provided for in this Constitution and in the law, and indirectly, through suffrage, through the organs that exercise public power. State organs emanate from popular sovereignty and are subject to it.”

The Constitution clarifies who owns the mineral wealth that a certain foreign leader considers we have “stolen” and which he will “take charge of” until he sees fit: “Article 12. Mining and hydrocarbon deposits, whatever their nature, existing in the national territory, under the territorial sea bed, in the exclusive economic zone, and on the continental shelf, belong to the Republic, are public property, and are therefore inalienable and imprescriptible. The sea coasts are public property.”

Let us ask ourselves whether the murder, without prior declaration of war, of nearly a hundred defenseless fishermen and another hundred of our brothers and sisters is sufficient grounds for the people or authorities to collaborate with the invaders in the destruction of the Republic. In this regard, our Constitution states: “Article 25. Any act carried out in the exercise of public power that violates or undermines the rights guaranteed by this Constitution and the law is null and void, and the public officials who order or execute it incur criminal, civil, and administrative liability, as the case may be, without the excuse of receiving orders from superiors.”

The foreign leader who ordered this series of mass murders declares that Venezuelan oil “belongs to him” and that he will “take charge of it,” as if the kidnapping of an official made him the owner of assets that belong only to the Republic, that is, to the Venezuelan people. In this regard, our Constitution states: “Article 156. The National Public Power has jurisdiction over: 16. The regime and administration of mines and hydrocarbons, the regime of uncultivated lands, and the conservation, promotion, and use of the country’s forests, soils, waters, and other natural resources. The National Executive may not grant mining concessions for an indefinite period (…)“. And for further clarification: ”Article 302. The State reserves, through the respective organic law and for reasons of national convenience, oil activity and other industries, exploitations, services, and assets of public interest and strategic nature. (…)”.

If foreign leaders and capitalists plunder such assets for their own personal gain, the social, economic, educational, welfare, and cultural rights of all Venezuelans recognized by the Constitution will be rendered inapplicable due to a lack of resources.

Does the bombing, massacre, and invasion of our territory grant the criminal the authority to impose measures contrary to our laws and the Constitution? In this regard, the Fundamental Law states: “Article 138. Any usurped authority is ineffective and its acts are null and void.”

Should we tolerate such usurpation? Our inviolable Fundamental Law answers us: “Article 130. Venezuelans have the duty to honor and defend their homeland, its symbols, and cultural values, and to safeguard and protect the sovereignty, nationality, territorial integrity, self-determination, and interests of the Nation. (…) Article 333. This Constitution shall not lose its validity if it ceases to be observed by an act of force or because it is repealed by any means other than those provided for therein. In such an event, every citizen, whether vested with authority or not, shall have the duty to assist in restoring its effective validity.”

We have been victims of an aggressive war. Until a peace treaty is signed, no diplomatic relations will be established, nor can any agreements of any kind be made with the aggressor.

[…] 

The only legal effect of the reprehensible and repudiated invasion, apart from the destruction of lives and property, is the illegitimate kidnapping of the Head of State, the massacre of more than two hundred compatriots, and the civil and criminal liability resulting from such crimes. Crime does not engender rights, only punishment.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.

Translated and slightly abridged by Venezuelanalysis.

Source: Rebelión

Sunday services were halted in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo over extensive looting by fighters from the M23/AFC group. On Jan. 18, violence erupted in the Uvira town, forcing churches to shut down and disrupting the sanity of locals.

The rebels invaded several buildings across various quarters of Uvira, making off with valuables, including household belongings and shop stocks. As the looting unfolded, the rebels and their supporters fired shots into the air, instilling an atmosphere of fear and panic among the residents. 

The Catholic churches in the town suspended mass services for the day, while other denominations urged their congregations to stay home for their safety. Administrative buildings also fell victim to the chaos, with office furniture and valuables, including important documents and archives, being looted, according to local sources.

“Right now, it is difficult to know who is in control on the ground in Uvira. Youths claiming to be Wazalendo were seen in some quarters of the town, while other youths identified with M23/AFC rebels were also seen in other quarters of Uvira. While the various armed groups have been spoiling the town, the DR Congo national army, FARDC, is nowhere to be found,” a civil society activist in the area told HumAngle.

These incidents came on the heels of the recent departure of some of the M23/AFC combatants from Uvira, where around 200 heavily armed men wearing military helmets were seen leaving the town on foot, while others were in trucks. The M23 group said those sighted included members of its observation and monitoring unit, stating that this departure signified the final phase of their withdrawal from Uvira. They further declared that they would no longer assume responsibility for the town and its inhabitants’ security.

In response to a request from the United States, the mediators in the conflict, the rebel group, claimed it had decided to withdraw its foot soldiers from Uvira in December 2025 to allow peace to reign. Bertrand Bisimwa, head of the M23’s political wing, said the movement of forces from the town was imminent.

“We call upon the civilian population to remain calm,” he said, adding that the group called on mediators and other partners to ensure the town was “protected from violence, retaliation, and re-militarisation”.

Donald Trump officially launched his “Board of Peace,” offering a vision of Gaza that sees Hamas disarmed and real estate developments based on “free market economy principles.”

Manchester United have said midfielder Casemiro will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this season.

The 33-year-old joined from Real Madrid for £70m in 2022 and has made 146 appearances.

He scored the opening goal in the 2023 Carabao Cup final win over Newcastle as Manchester United finished third in the Premier League in his first season.

But last year he was mentioned by new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe who said some players were “not good enough” and “overpaid”.

The Brazil international said: “I will carry Manchester United with me throughout my entire life.

“It is not time to say goodbye; there are many more memories to create during the next four months.

“We still have a lot to fight for together; my complete focus will, as always, remain on giving my everything to help our club to succeed.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan have completed a major prisoner exchange following a recent diplomatic meeting. The border town of the Aru territory in the DRC serves as a haven for numerous South Sudanese refugees escaping the civil conflict in their homeland.

In August 2025, the French humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that over 33,000 South Sudanese refugees had been documented on the Congolese side of the border.

The DRC government said the bilateral meeting was held to reinforce security cooperation and the permanent exchange of intelligence between the two countries. The two delegations agreed to exchange detainees as a strong gesture of peace.

“There have been problems: a South Sudanese soldier entered our country through Aguruba, and finally, he was bogged down in mud and got lost. His colleagues came to search for him, and that is when his colleagues, before returning, took hostage a soldier of the Republican Guard and a policeman. Before that, they had already taken a village chief hostage. Fortunately, the chief of the chiefdom has spoken with the commissioner and the village chief was returned,” Richard Mbambi, the police administrator of the Aru territory, revealed.

 “But the soldiers, on leaving, I think they received orders from their superiors, took an element of the Republican guard and an element of the police, and that is what made us agree with the commissioner that we should meet in order to resolve the problem. We brought the soldier who was held in detention and another South Sudanese who had been arrested. We have just returned them to the commissioner, who has also returned the soldier and policeman who were taken on that day,” he added.

The South Sudanese delegation, led by the commissioner of Morobo district, emphasised that the meeting was significant to strengthening coexistence and peace between the neighbouring countries.

“Today, we have met with your authorities to resolve the situation which is going on between us. We must resolve our differences, we must put in efforts so that we no longer return to situations that have already taken place,” said Charles Dhata, the South Sudanese commissioner.

The security situation at the border between the two countries in the Aru territory remains bleak, as many refugees are fleeing the civil war atrocities in South Sudan. Various sources have reported instances of looting in several local communities within Congolese territory, carried out by rogue elements of the South Sudanese security forces and some individuals disguised as refugees. Discussions during the meeting addressed these concerns.

In December 2025, more than 40,000 South Sudanese refugees were relocated to sites with potable water, schools, and health facilities, with the support of the National Commission for Refugees of the MSF and local authorities.  

Police administrator Richard stressed the importance of exchanging intelligence between the two countries. This exchange aims to address differences and enhance security in two regions.

“The recommendations that we have made are notably that we must meet from time to time, at least every quarter, so that there are exchanges between the authorities of the territory,” he said.

President Donald Trump has brought up the possibility of changing the designation of the U.S. Air Force’s F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter if the program gets to a point where “I don’t like it.” The nomenclature was chosen in part to highlight his personal support for the program, which is currently one of the top acquisition priorities across the entire U.S. military.

Trump highlighted the F-47 as an example of the U.S. military having the “best equipment” in a speech today at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at Davos in Switzerland. He also remarked on the jet’s designation. The Air Force announced in March 2025 that it had picked Boeing to build the F-47. The service views the jet as critical to providing air superiority for U.S. forces in future conflicts, especially high-end fights, such as a potential one against China in the Pacific. The Air Force has said it plans to buy at least 185 F-47s, with the first examples entering operational service toward the end of the decade.

“They say it’s [the F-47] the most devastating plane, fighter jet ever,” Trump said. “They called it 47. If I don’t like it, I’m going to take the 47 off it.”

“I don’t know why they called it 47. We’ll have to think about that,” he continued. “But if I don’t like it, I’m going to take that 47 off.”

Whether anything in particular spurred Trump’s comments today is unknown. TWZ has reached out to the Air Force and the White House.

The Air Force has previously explained, in detail, how it arrived at the F-47 designation.

Firstly, it is a reference to the World War II-era piston-engine P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. P-47s continued to serve for years afterward in the United States and elsewhere globally, long enough to see their nomenclature change to F-47 with the decision to phase out the “P” for “Pursuit” prefix.

The “47” in F-47 is also a reference to the founding year of the independent U.S. Air Force, 1947. The service was originally a branch of the U.S. Army.

Lastly, the F-47’s designation is a reference to Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States. For a time, the future of the program that led to the F-47 was very uncertain, and there was a real possibility it might have been cancelled. The Trump administration ultimately decided to proceed, announcing Boeing as the winner of the competition last March.

“The generals picked a title, and it’s a beautiful number,” Trump had himself said during the televised unveiling of the F-47 at the White House last year.

Trump does have a long history of being outspoken when it comes to the aesthetics of major U.S. military weapon systems, especially warships, as well as more technical aspects of their design. The president has also made pronouncements about ordering substantial changes to high-profile programs in the past that have not come to pass.

Even before being elected president, Trump was well known for being particularly conscious of his personal brand, as well.

With all this in mind, it would make sense that Trump would not want to be so directly associated with the F-47 if the program were to run into serious trouble or become the subject of some other controversy, or even if he just does not personally like the design of the jet. Whether or not any such developments have already occurred, but have not yet been publicly disclosed, is not known.

U.S. military aircraft designations are not set in stone. Sometimes significant changes are made to the nomenclature of designs still in development, as well as those already in service. The decision to change the designation of the Air Force’s newest electronic warfare jets from EC-37B to EA-37B is just one recent example.

To date, the Air Force and Boeing have been upbeat publicly about progress on the F-47. The Air Force confirmed last year that the initial prototype is in the process of being built and that a first flight is targeted for 2028. When asked today for an update on how many F-47s are now in any stage of production, and if there have been any changes to the first flight schedule, Boeing directed TWZ to contact the Air Force.

“I won’t even touch the first flight day the Air Force has put the date out there; I’m just going to stay away from all of that,” Steve Parker, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, had said at a media roundtable last November. “It’s all about execution, and that’s what is getting all of my attention. We’re in a good spot.”

Though much about the F-47 is currently classified, it is known that much groundwork for the program had already been laid before Boeing won the contract last year. This includes the Air Force, in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, having test-flown relevant X-plane demonstrators for years beforehand.

The Air Force has acknowledged delays with the separate Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program, which is developing advanced jet engines that could power the F-47 and other aircraft in the future. What engines are expected to power the F-47 initially is unclear. You can read more about what is otherwise known about the design here.

The Pentagon has also thrown its full weight behind the F-47 program. Last year, U.S. officials announced plans to effectively shelve the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter program in part to ensure there would be no competition for resources with the F-47.

Congress is now moving to get the F/A-XX effort out of purgatory in a new defense spending bill, but certainly not at the expense of F-47. In addition to nearly $900 million for F/A-XX, the legislation would appropriate an extra $505 million for F-47. That would bring the total budget for the Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter program in the current fiscal year to almost $3.1 billion.

It remains to be seen whether the F-47’s designation ultimately changes as work on the jet continues to move ahead.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

The armed wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, released a video message on Wednesday afternoon showing an Israeli captive currently held in Gaza, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported. The footage shows Omri Miran lighting a candle on what he described as his “second birthday” in captivity.

“This is my second birthday here. I can’t say I’m celebrating; it’s just another day in captivity,” said Miran. “I made this cake for the occasion, but there is no joy. It’s been a year and a half. I miss my daughters and my wife terribly.”

He addressed the Israeli public directly, including his family and friends. “Conditions here are extremely tough. Thank you to everyone demonstrating to bring us home safely.”

The captive also urged Israelis to stage a mass protest outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence. “Bring my daughters so I can see them on TV. Do everything you can now to get us home. Netanyahu’s supporters don’t care about us, they’d rather see us dead.”

Screengrab from footage shows Israeli captive Omri Miran

He asked captives released in previous prisoner exchange deals to protest and speak to the media. “Let the people know how bad it is for us. We live in constant fear of bombings. A deal must be reached soon before we return home in coffins.

Miran urged demonstrators to appeal to US President Donald Trump to put pressure on Netanyahu: “Do not believe Netanyahu. Military pressure is only killing us. A deal — only a deal — will bring us home. Turn to Trump. He seems to be the only powerful person in the world who could push Netanyahu to agree to a deal.”

He also mentioned the worsening humanitarian situation: “The captors told me the crossings are closed; no food or supplies are coming in. As a result, we’re receiving even less food than before.”

In conclusion, the captive sent a pointed message to the Israeli leadership: “Netanyahu, Dermer, Smotrich, Ben Gvir — you are the reason for 7 October. Because of you, I am here. Because of you, we’re all here. You’re bringing the state to collapse.”

READ: US synagogues close their doors to Israel MK Ben-Gvir

Bangladesh have reiterated their stance on not travelling to India for the T20 World Cup and will, once again, request the International Cricket Council (ICC) to relocate their games to Sri Lanka despite the global cricket body’s refusal to change the tournament’s schedule.

“We will go back to the ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka,” BCB President Aminul Islam said after a meeting between BCB officials, Bangladeshi cricketers and representatives of the government in Dhaka on Thursday.

The announcement came a day after the global cricket body warned the BCB that expulsion from the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 could take place should it not agree to play its matches in India, with Scotland replacing it in Group C.

The ICC asked the BCB to review its decision with the Bangladeshi government and give a response within a day, following which a final decision would be made.

“They did give us a 24-hour ultimatum, but a global body can’t really do that,” Islam told reporters.

“We want to play the World Cup, but we won’t play in India. We will keep fighting,” he added.

The BCB chief said the ICC would stand to lose if Bangladesh were expelled from the tournament.

“The ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup,” he said.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play on the opening day of the tournament, on February 7, when they face the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. They are set to play two other group-stage games at the same venue before their final Group C fixture against Nepal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

However, the BCB has refused to send its team to India, citing concerns over players’ safety and security.

The move followed the abrupt removal of star fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League (IPL) upon instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), due to the ongoing political tensions between the two nations.

The ICC said, on Wednesday, that it had shared detailed independent security assessments, comprehensive venue-level security plans and formal assurances from the host authorities with the BCB and that all reports concluded “there is no credible or verifiable threat to the safety or security of the Bangladesh team in India.

“Despite these efforts, the BCB maintained its position, repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its players’ involvement in a domestic league,” an ICC spokesperson said after the global body’s board met via video conference to discuss the issue.

“This linkage has no bearing on the tournament’s security framework or the conditions governing participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup,” the ICC spokesperson added.

Asif Nazrul, a youth and sports adviser in the interim Bangladeshi government, dismissed the ICC’s claims, saying it had failed to quash Bangladesh’s concerns.

“The ICC has failed to convince us on the security question and has taken no stand on our grievances,” he said.

“Even the Indian government did not communicate with us or try to assuage our fears.

“We are hopeful that ICC will give us the opportunity to play in Sri Lanka. It is our government who has decided not to go to India.”

Before the latest round of talks, Bangladesh captain Litton Das had expressed concerns over the uncertainty surrounding his team’s participation.

“From where I stand, I’m uncertain; everyone is uncertain,” Das told reporters after a domestic cricket match on Tuesday.

Diplomatic relations between the once-close allies have been sharply tested since August last year, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi from Dhaka after an uprising against her rule.

Bangladesh blames India for a number of its troubles, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support for Hasina when she was in power.

During the World Cup, Bangladesh will hold its first elections since Hasina’s ousting.

Speaking to an audience of world leaders on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is not considering military force to take Greenland from Denmark, but still issued a warning over his interest in subsuming the strategically important and mineral-rich island. Meanwhile, Denmark is reportedly considering a significant boost to its military presence on Greenland to defend it while understanding any conflict with America would be “ugly.” 

Trump’s increasing insistence in controlling Greenland threatens to fracture the NATO alliance, where most of the nations oppose the American leader’s stance. You can catch up with our latest coverage of this growing controversy here.

“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable, but I won’t do that. OK?” Trump said during his speech on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Now everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, good.’ That’s probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”

“All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland,” Trump added, before making a veiled threat.

“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” the U.S. leader scoffed. “We’ve never asked for anything else, and we could have kept that piece of land, and we didn’t. So they have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember.”

ON THIN ICE: President Trump issues a firm warning to Denmark over Greenland, making it clear that the U.S. will remember if its request for “world protection” is rejected:

“So we want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it.”

“We’ve never asked for anything… pic.twitter.com/cLKp6qR7qH

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 21, 2026

Before ruling out the use of force to take Greenland, Trump repeated his assertion that the U.S. is the only nation that can protect it against threats from China and Russia and called for “immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States. Just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history, as many of the European nations have, they’ve acquired, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Greenland’s location, between Europe, China and the continental United States, is a major reason for Trump’s interest in the island.

However, the U.S. operates one of its most strategic military outposts in Greenland. This is spearheaded by Pituffik Space Force Base, the U.S. military’s northernmost installation, a critical node in the U.S. ballistic missile early warning system, and also the world’s northernmost deep-water seaport. The installation also features a sprawling airbase. You can read in more detail about the U.S. military presence on the island here.

While Trump stating he won’t use force to seize Greenland is surely welcome news for America’s NATO allies, trust is at an all time low between many in the alliance and the White House. He has also made similar comments during other crises, from Iran to tariffs, that ended up going in another direction. As such, it’s doubtful they will all take him at his word, at least at this point in time.

Case in point, Trump’s speech was met with distrust from Denmark, where his words aren’t taken as a given.

“It’s clear from this speech that the president’s ambition is intact,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen. “In isolation it’s positive that the president says what he does regarding the ⁠military, but that does not make the problem go away.”

Even before the speech in which he also derided NATO, European leaders were angered by Trump’s stance toward the alliance. Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni suggested that Europe would close military installations to the U.S., which relies heavily on European bases to project power there and in the Middle East.

Donald Trump: “NATO is nothing without America.”

Meloni: “Perfect. Then Europe will close the U.S. bases, tear up the sweetheart trade deals, and, just to make the message land, boycott McDonald’s too.”

That is the blunt reality: if Washington wants to talk like protection is a… pic.twitter.com/FurDdBYCXd

— Gandalv (@Microinteracti1) January 21, 2026

Regardless of why Trump wants Greenland, hours before he spoke at Davos, Danish media said the country is considering sending more troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to protect the island.

“Plans are currently being worked on in Denmark to bring up to 1,000 soldiers from the Army to Greenland during 2026,” Denmark’s TV-2 news outlet reported on Wednesday. “In addition, there are possible additional contributions from the Navy and Air Force. In total, approximately 150 soldiers have so far arrived in Kangerlussuaq and approximately the same number to Nuuk – including approximately 30 mountain infantrymen from France, who are also on an exercise.”

“The many combat soldiers say something about how seriously the Armed Forces and thus the top of the government take this task,” the outlet added.

The Royal Danish Army is preparing a rotating force of 1,000 Soldiers that will be forward deployed to Denmark, in addition to aircraft and ships from the Air Force and Navy, with 300 Soldiers from the 1st Brigade having already arrived in Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk, alongside… pic.twitter.com/EogVR5Ugbd

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 21, 2026

One Danish government leader acknowledged just how difficult it would be to defend Greenland should Trump order an attack.

“Denmark would, of course, defend Greenland with the means at our disposal,” Rasmus Jarlov, head of the Danish Defense Committee, told the German Bild news outlet on Wednesday. “However, we also understand the difference in size between Denmark and the United States. And we know that it will be a very difficult fight.”

“I don’t want to speculate on what it would look like, but it will get ugly,” Jarlov added.

The Danish parliamentarian also lashed out at Trump’s claims that China and Russia are threatening Greenland.

“That’s a completely fabricated story and simply wrong,” Jarlov told Bild. “No Chinese warship has been sighted in the region for 10 years. Furthermore, there are neither Chinese nor Russian direct investments in the country.“

Jarlov added that the tensions over Greenland are another sign that the U.S. cannot be counted on as a strategic partner.

“Europe must now have its own nuclear weapons, since we see that we can no longer rely on the protection of the Americans,” he urged.

#Breaking
Chairman of Denmark’s Defence Committee @RasmusJarlov tells @BILD: “Denmark would, of course, defend Greenland with the means available to us. But we also understand the difference in size between Denmark and the United States. And we know that it would be a very… pic.twitter.com/LllXnOdW31

— Julian Röpcke🇺🇦 (@JulianRoepcke) January 21, 2026

Trump’s interest in Greenland has France calling for NATO to hold a military exercise in Greenland, presumably as a show of force and alliance solidarity.

France is “ready to contribute” to that effort, according to a statement from French President Emmanuel Macron’s office on Wednesday.

“The request comes as the transatlantic alliance is deeply upset over U.S. threats to take over the island and after U.S. President Donald Trump snubbed an invitation from the French president to join G7 leaders in Paris to iron out differences,” Politico reported.

However, there is nothing in the works for such an exercise, a senior NATO military official told The War Zone.

“There is no military planning currently underway at the moment within NATO for a NATO exercise in Greenland,” the official said.

In response to the French suggestion, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shot back at Macron, chiding him for the nation’s struggling economy.

Reporter: France wants to conduct NATO exercises in Greenland. What would you have to say about that?

Bessent: And if this is all President Macron has to do, when France’s budget is in shambles, I would suggest that he focus on other priorities for the French people. pic.twitter.com/a6T25imQW7

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) January 21, 2026

The growing rift between Trump and Europe is also roiling trade in the wake of Trump’s announcement that he will impose tariffs on eight European nations opposed to turning over Greenland.

“European countries hold trillions of dollars of US bonds and stocks, some of which sit with public sector funds,” Bloomberg Business noted. “That’s spurring speculation they could sell such assets in response to Trump’s renewed tariff war, potentially driving borrowing costs up and equities down given US reliance on foreign capital.”

Highlighting that concern, the European Parliament has suspended its work on the EU’s trade deal with the U.S., brokered with the Trump administration last summer. The move is in “protest at the demands to acquire Greenland and the accompanying threats of fresh tariffs.” 

“The EU assembly has been debating various components of the agreement struck in Turnberry, Scotland, and its trade committee had been scheduled to vote on them next week,” the German DW news outlet reported on Wednesday.

BREAKING: The EU Parliament has SUSPENDED approval of the U.S.–EU trade deal after Trump threatened 10–25% tariffs on Europe and revived his push to take Greenland. EU lawmakers say Trump’s Davos remarks violated the pact’s terms.

“Appeasement does not bring peace. It invites… pic.twitter.com/ZcbD3TYGpT

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 21, 2026

It remains to be seen how European leaders, as well as financial markets, react to Trump’s speech today. Given that this is one of the biggest issues on the world stage at the moment, we will continue to watch for developments.

Update: 2:43 PM Eastern –

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland, and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.” He also rescinded his decision to impose tariffs on Europe as a result.

Update: 5:35 PM Eastern –

Trump’s social media announcement followed a NATO meeting on Wednesday “where top military officers from the alliance’s member states discussed a compromise in which Denmark would give the United States sovereignty over small pockets of Greenlandic land where the United States could build military bases,” The New York Times reported, citing “three senior officials familiar with the discussion.”

The concept was being pursued by Rutte, the publication stated.

“Two of the officials, who attended the meeting, compared it to the United Kingdom’s bases in Cyprus, which are regarded as British territory,” the Times noted.

“The officials did not know if the idea was part of the framework announced by” Trump, who did not immediately provide details “and notably did not say that the United States would own Greenland, even when asked directly about ownership by a reporter in Davos soon after he posted his announcement,” the newspaper stated. Neither Rutte nor the leaders of Denmark released details either. The Danish prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a NYT request for comment.

In response to our questions about the compromise, NATO sent us the following statement:

“The Secretary General had a very productive meeting with President Trump during which they discussed the critical significance of security in the Arctic region to all Allies, including the United States.

Discussions among NATO Allies on the framework the President referenced will focus on ensuring Arctic security through the collective efforts of Allies, especially the seven Arctic Allies. Negotiations between Denmark, Greenland, and the United States will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold – economically or militarily – in Greenland.”

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

EPA

What has been said about the framework deal?

Is there any detail about the possible deal?

Will any deal short of ‘ownership’ please Trump?

Why does Trump want Greenland?

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the UK will not yet be signing up to US President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace over concerns about Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s possible participation.

Cooper told the BBC the UK had been invited to join the board but “won’t be one of the signatories today” at a planned ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The foreign secretary described the board as a “legal treaty that raises much broader issues” than the initiative’s initial focus on ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The charter proposed by the White House does not mention the Palestinian territory and appears to be designed to replace some functions of the United Nations.

Countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Israel have said they will become members of the board, and at Davos, President Trump said Putin had accepted an invitation to join the initiative.

But President Putin has not confirmed this and earlier he said his country was still studying the invitation.

Speaking to the BBC’s Breakfast programme from Davos, Cooper said the UK had received an invitation to join the board and strongly supported Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza.

“That’s why we are also clear we want to play our part in phase two of the Gaza peace process,” Cooper said.

But she added: “We won’t be one of the signatories today because this is a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.

“And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something that’s talking about peace when we’ve still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be commitment to peace in Ukraine.”

She said Putin had shown no willingness “to come and make that agreement and that’s where the pressure needs to be now”.

“But we will have continuing international discussions including with our allies,” the foreign secretary said.

Diplomatic relations between the US and the UK are on shakier ground after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on European nations if his demand to hand control of Greenland to his country was not met.

But US president appears to have backed down after saying the US was exploring a potential deal on Greenland after talks with Nato, as he dropped planned tariffs on eight European countries and ruled out using force to take the island.

Cooper welcomed the apparent climbdown on Greenland and said the UK and its European allies had put forward “positive, constructive proposals” on security in the Arctic.

But when asked about the Board of Peace, Cooper echoed other UK cabinet ministers who in recent days have been expressing concerns over Putin’s potential role in the scheme, given Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The UK has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies and together with France, signed a declaration of intent on deploying troops to the country if a peace deal is made with Russia.

As talks to end the war in Ukraine continue, President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are due to meet in Davos on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Trump repeated his often-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal.

Trump’s Board of Peace was originally unveiled by the White House as part of a plan to rebuild Gaza and design its future governance.

But the leaked text of the board’s founding charter goes far beyond that purpose.

The text says the board would be “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”.

The leaked document says the Board of Peace’s charter will enter into force once three states formally agree to be bound by it, with member states given renewable three-year terms and permanent seats available to those contributing $1bn (£740m), it said.

The charter declared the body as an international organisation mandated to carry out peace-building functions under international law, with Trump serving as chairman – and separately as the US representative – and holding authority to appoint executive board members and create or dissolve subsidiary bodies.

Last Friday, the White House named seven members of the founding Executive Board, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

More have now said they will join it, including Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Vatican has said that the Pope has also received an invitation.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland – the annual Alpine gathering of the global elite – to declare that now is “not a time for new imperialism or new colonialism”.

This, of course, was a reference to the current ambitions of Macron’s counterpart in the United States, Donald Trump, who, in addition to recently kidnapping the president of Venezuela and repeatedly threatening to seize the Panama Canal, has made a great deal of noise about taking over the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland.

Trump himself took to the podium in Davos on Wednesday for a typically rambling speech, during which he alternately babbled about windmills, snidely complimented Macron on his “beautiful” reflective sunglasses, and declared that he would not “use force” in the acquisition of Greenland – which he also accidentally referred to as Iceland.

Indeed, Trump’s designs on the island have got Europe’s panties in a bunch, and the European Parliament has announced its unequivocal condemnation of “the statements made by the Trump administration regarding Greenland, which constitute a blatant challenge to international law, to the principles of the United Nations Charter and to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a NATO ally”.

Following Macron’s intervention at Davos, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that European leaders had “lined up” in opposition to the “new colonialism” denounced by the French leader.

Now, it goes without saying that the categorically demented Trump should by no means be encouraged in his predatory international endeavours. But it bears pointing out that, when it comes to colonialism and imperialism, Europe is hardly one to talk.

Let’s start with France, which continues to rule a dozen territories scattered across the globe – many of them marketed as exotic holiday destinations – including the Guadeloupe islands in the Caribbean Sea and the archipelago of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean.

While these territories have officially moved beyond lowly colonial status to bona fide departments of the French Republic and thereby part of the European Union, France can’t seem to shake the old patronising imperial mindset and attendant superiority complex.

When in December 2024, residents of cyclone-ravaged Mayotte – France’s poorest overseas territory – criticised the ineffective government response to the disaster, Macron charmingly snapped: “If it wasn’t for France, you would be in way deeper s***, 10,000 times more.”

How’s that for some “new colonialism”?

As for the tried-and-true “old” colonialism, France has a particularly appalling track record on that front, as well. Recall the case of Algeria, where some 1.5 million Algerians were killed during the 1954-62 war for independence from French rule.

Although Macron previously acknowledged that French colonisation of the North African country was a “crime against humanity” that was characterised by rampant torture and other brutality, he has consistently refused to offer a formal French apology.

But it’s not just France. Plenty of other European powers who are suddenly against colonialism also possess impressively savage legacies worldwide.

Indeed, from Africa to Asia to the Middle East and beyond, it’s difficult to find so much as a speck of land that has not been affected in some way or other by past centuries of European plunder, enslavement, mass killing, and similar atrocities.

The Spaniards decimated Indigenous populations across the Americas, Britain wreaked imperial havoc wherever it possibly could, and King Leopold II of Belgium presided over the deaths of 10 million or so Congolese starting in 1885, when he established the “Congo Free State” as his own personal property.

In 2022, Belgian King Philippe offered his “deepest regrets” for the abuses that transpired during the colonial era but withheld an official apology. As one article on the occasion of the non-apology noted, life in the Congo Free State was such that “villages that missed rubber collection quotas were notoriously made to provide severed hands instead”.

Over in Ethiopia, meanwhile, British historian Ian Campbell estimates that 19-20 percent of the Ethiopian population of Addis Ababa was wiped out over a mere three days during the Italian military occupation of East Africa in 1937.

The list of European atrocities goes on.

This is not, of course, meant as a suggestion that Trump should therefore have free rein to commit whatever crimes or plunder he pleases. It is simply a friendly reminder that you can’t be selectively opposed to colonialism. (Greenland, by the way, was a full-out colony of Denmark until not so long ago.)

Speaking of colonial atrocities, Europe has not, over the course of more than two years of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, managed to be sufficiently up in arms over the mass slaughter, preferring to go the route of superficial criticism and de facto complicity.

As the killing continues under the guise of a US-brokered ceasefire, Gaza is now, per the Trumpian vision, set to be administered by a so-called “Board of Peace” chaired by – who else? – Trump himself.

Also participating on the board will be Israeli prime minister and genocidaire extraordinaire Benjamin Netanyahu, which no doubt heralds a “new colonialism” of the most sinister variety.

Unfortunately for the world, however, blood-soaked hypocrisy is nothing new.

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

From Zaria to Lagos, Yakubu spent three days. Along the way, he hoped, ate, and even stepped aside to relieve himself. 

Home had become a stronghold of terrorists who rustled cattle, kidnapped residents, and cut farmers off from their harvests. Even children, Yakubu recalled, openly carried weapons in Funtua, the area where he grew up in Katsina State, northwestern Nigeria.

He fled first to Zaria in neighbouring Kaduna State, where he negotiated with a truck driver transporting cattle to Lagos, in the country’s South West. With ₦3,000, he secured a small space and spent what remained of the ₦5,000 his father gave him on food along the journey. Whenever the need arose, the driver pulled over so he and others could relieve themselves in the bushes.

Yakubu’s journey shows the vulnerability of travellers in Nigeria, including migrants, where sanitation infrastructure fails to meet evolving needs. 

In 2020, REACH found that many people in some parts of northeastern Nigeria were not using latrines because facilities had been destroyed by conflict. In some internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camps in Borno State, up to 30 per cent of residents practised open defecation. And of the 254 sites assessed across the state between 2021 and 2022, 57 per cent showed evidence of the practice.

By the end of 2024, Nigeria had over three million displaced persons, driven largely by insecurity in the northern region, as well as climate-related displacement linked to flooding and environmental degradation. 

Many displaced people move south, travelling along highways without public toilets and settling in urban centres where informal settlements lack basic sanitation. Studies have linked cholera outbreaks in such settings to open defecation.

In Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city and a major destination for migrants, including IDPs, recent cholera outbreaks killed more than 20 people and left many others hospitalised. 

The impact of the absence of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities continues to play out daily. 

Sixteen-year-old Shamsu arrived in the city from Kurfi Local Government Area of Katsina State. For five years, he has lived in a small shanty along Yaba, a residential community in Lagos Mainland, with other young people who earn a living collecting used plastic bottles.

The shanty offers little protection from either rain or heat. When it rains, water seeps through the torn tarpaulins that serve as walls and roof. And with no toilet, occupants defecate in a small patch of bush a few steps away.

“When I need to defecate, I buy sachets of water for ₦50,” Shamsu said, explaining that he uses the water to clean up afterwards. He came to Lagos in search of economic opportunity.

At the spot where Shamsu and others defecate, HumAngle encountered a man crouched on a highway barrier. His back curved inward, the rest of his body leaning forward as vehicles raced past. The man, known to sell suya in the area, appeared shy in the face of the urgency of the moment and the exposure it demanded. No water for cleaning was visible. 

Yusuf said he pays ₦200 to use a public toilet in Akogun, some distance away from Makoko, where he lives in an informal settlement with other migrants. He had come to Lagos on the back of a truck after fleeing terrorism in the Makoda area of Kano State. 

The cost and distance, however, raise questions about how accessible such facilities are in practice, particularly at night, and what options remain when toilets are out of reach.

In 2019, the federal government launched Clean Nigeria, a national hygiene campaign aimed at ending open defecation across all 774 local government areas by 2025. By the end of the target year, however, nearly 48 million Nigerians were still engaged in the act. 

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources’ 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping projected multiple target misses due to slow progress. And in November 2024, the federal government launched a revised Clean Nigeria Campaign (CNC) Strategic Plan, extending the goal to 2030 and proposing measures such as media outreach, fines, and increased access to toilets in schools, homes, and public spaces.

According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria would need “a fourfold increase in the current rate of progress,” including the construction of millions of toilets, to achieve the ambitious goal of eradicating open defecation.

Who’s to blame?

The problem, said environmental specialist Adesehinwa Adegbulugbe, cannot be blamed on a single actor.

“Local governments struggle to provide services at the pace of population growth, while national policy and planning frameworks have not fully anticipated such urban influxes,” he said.

“Poor urban planning, insufficient investment in decentralised sanitation, weak enforcement of building codes, and fragmented municipal coordination all hinder effective sanitation provision. In other words, even where infrastructure exists, mismanagement or inequitable access often perpetuates open defecation practices.”

HumAngle found that many migrants, like other residents, are willing to use sanitation facilities when available. At Railway, the shanty where Yakubu resides, among other scrap collectors, showed no evidence of open defecation.

Public toilets, Yakubu said, stood a short distance from where he sat, dismantling discarded electric switches and separating metal from plastic.

Built by the local development council, one of the toilet facilities in the area was in use at the time of HumAngle’s visit. Water flowed, users moved in and out, and the surroundings appeared orderly and maintained.

“I’m enjoying my peace in Lagos,” said Yakubu, who was a carpenter back home. “If not because of my parents, I won’t travel home at all.”

In Gengere, another informal settlement largely occupied by northern migrants and traders working in Lagos’s Mile 12 Market, residents said they use available public toilets, including at night. HumAngle observed one of the facilities. We also did not find evidence of open defecation in the community.

Even Shamsu said he dislikes the routine of crouching and defecating in the open, even though Makoko, a large slum near his shanty, boasts of a few public toilets.

“If there’s a decent toilet, I’ll use it,” he said. 

The Lagos State Government has acknowledged deficits in toilet access, particularly in public spaces and informal settlements. In March 2025, it announced plans to build 350 additional public toilets across the state in partnership with WaterAid and private operators. Earlier in November 2024, the state government had approved the construction of 100 public toilets as part of efforts to curb open defecation in the state.

Even as Lagos moves to expand public toilet access, sanitation pressures linked to rapid urban growth extend beyond the state.

The populations are growing at a rate that housing, employment, sanitation services, and enforcement are yet to catch up with. In Ado, the Ekiti State capital in South West Nigeria, the road leading to Mary Immaculate Grammar School smells like an overflowing latrine. Residents blame open defecation.

“Different people come to dump waste or defecate here,” said Taye Adelaju, a resident. 

Meanwhile, public toilets in the area charge only a token fee for use. 

Taye said only strict sanitation enforcement can prevent the area from becoming a public health hazard. 

Adesehinwa said that it’s critical to view open defecation as a systems failure, and not just a behavioural or cultural issue. “This framing,” he said, “enables multi-sectoral interventions, mobilises public and private investment, and promotes accountability across institutions rather than targeting individuals.”

As insecurity pushes more Nigerians onto the road and into unplanned settlements, urban centres like Lagos either expand sanitation systems or allow open defecation and the diseases it fuels to become a permanent feature of their growing population.

*Only first names have been used to protect the identities of some of the sources.

This is the second of a ‘Down South’ series exploring migration from areas of Northern Nigeria to Lagos. Read the first here.

Ras Ein al-Auja, occupied West Bank – When the music stops, Naif Ghawanmeh, 45, takes a seat in front of the fire. The night is chilly, and for the first time in weeks, everything is still for a moment – the Israeli settlers’ celebrations have finished for the day.

But the village of Ras Ein al-Auja, situated in the eastern West Bank’s Jericho governorate, has been all but wiped out.

The village was one of the last Palestinian herding communities in this part of the Jordan Valley, but now, the herders’ sheep have gone – most of them stolen or poisoned by settlers or sold off by villagers under pressure. Their water has been cut off – the Ras Ein spring declared off-limits by the neighbouring settlers for the past year.

And for the past two weeks, most of the community’s homes have been dismantled. Many of the families forced out have burned their furniture before they have left, not wanting to leave it for the invading settlers to use.

“By God, it’s a difficult feeling,” Ghawanmeh says. He is at a loss for words, fidgeting by the fire and at times rubbing his face in misery and exhaustion. ”Everyone left. Not one of them [remains]. They all left.”

Since the start of this year, about 450 of the 650 Palestinian inhabitants of Ras Ein al-Auja have fled their homes – for many the only place they have ever lived – because of violence by Israeli settlers.

Other than the 14 Ghawanmeh families, including a large number of children, who say they have nowhere else to go, the rest are packing up and leaving in the coming days.

This rapid displacement of hundreds of people marks the largest expulsion from a single Bedouin community as a result of Israeli settler violence in modern times – a feat that has elicited taunting celebrations by the encroaching settlers and left lives in ruins for Bedouin families now deprived of shelter, livelihoods and community.

No land, no sheep, no water, no safety

Until the New Year, the people of Ras Ein al-Auja had held out on their lands despite an onslaught of physical attacks, thefts, threats, movement restrictions and destruction of property by settlers – a state of being that is now all too common for rural Palestinian communities across the West Bank.

Settlers have been enabled by rapid growth in the number of settlement outposts springing up across the West Bank. Settlements and these outposts are illegal under international law. They are also built without the legal permission of Israeli authorities but in practice are largely tolerated and offered protection by Israeli forces, especially in recent years under the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

International law stipulates that occupying powers like Israel must not move their own civilian populations into occupied territories, such as the West Bank, where about 700,000 settlers now reside.

In December, another 19 settler outposts built without government approval were retroactively approved by Israel’s government as official settlements. In all, the number of settlements and outposts in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent since 2022 – from 141 to 210 now.

This recent explosion of settler outposts has given way to a more recent yet even more dangerous phenomenon: shepherding outposts.

Each of these outposts mimics the Bedouins’ way of life but with settlers’ own grazing flocks. They are typically run by a single armed Israeli settler supported by several armed teenagers often funnelled in by government-funded programmes intended to support “at-risk” troubled youth.

Using animal grazing as a means to overrun Palestinian shepherds and seize their lands, such settlers had managed by April 2024 to take over about 14 percent of the West Bank, according to the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot. That figure has increased since then by at least tens of thousands of dunums (1 dunum equals 0.1 hectares and a quarter of an acre), according to Kerem Navot’s founder, Dror Etkes.

The outposts serve as a launching pad for attacks, controls on Palestinian movement and army-coordinated arrests, which have unfolded in places like Ras Ein al-Auja.

Routinely, settlers steal and poison the livestock that Palestinian shepherds, who largely inhabit these remote areas, rely on for their livelihoods. On top of this, settlers are preventing Palestinian shepherds who still have flocks from accessing the grazing lands they’ve always used. Settlers have built fences and engage in intimidation and violence, forcing Palestinians to buy expensive animal fodder to sustain their flocks instead.

Settlers also target the basic resources that Bedouin Palestinians rely on for themselves. Like most other Palestinian communities in the West Bank’s Area C, which Israel fully controls, the people of Ras Ein al-Auja are denied access to electricity by Israeli authorities. The Israeli Civil Administration, which controls zoning and planning in Area C, rarely grants permits for Palestinians to build infrastructure, including connecting to the grid or installing solar energy systems. The solar panels the villagers have put up have frequently been destroyed by settlers.

In addition, these Palestinian shepherding communities, often located in dry regions, are now denied sufficient access to water, including from the lush springs found in Ras Ein al-Auja which once made this village one of the most prosperous of the shepherding communities.

“They prevented us from getting water,” Ghawanmeh says. “They prevented us from bringing the sheep to the water and getting water from the spring.”

Near-total impunity

Israeli settlers have also been emboldened by a wide-scale armament programme spearheaded at the start of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the near-total impunity they enjoy when they carry out attacks. While court rulings in favour of Palestinians and against settlers have occurred, they are rare.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1,800 settler attacks – about five per day – were documented in 2025, resulting in casualties or property damage in about 280 communities across the West Bank, and besting the previous year’s record of settler attacks by more than 350. A total of 240 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 55 children, were killed by Israeli forces or settlers in 2025.

These unprecedented levels of settler and soldier violence alongside the wholesale deprivation of basic resources that rural Palestinians need to survive have led to the erasure of dozens of rural Palestinian communities.

In January and February 2025, the Israeli military forcibly displaced about 40,000 people from refugee camps in Tulkarem and Jenin, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, settler violence has forced out 44 Palestinian communities in the West Bank consisting of 2,701 people, nearly half of whom are minors. Thirteen more communities comprising 452 people have been partially transferred. These people end up wherever they can find a place to stay, resulting in fractured communities and families.

Such figures of displacement have not been seen in the West Bank in decades.

‘Two years of psychological pressure’

For 27 months, Ras Ein al-Auja has been subjected to all of these types of attacks and restrictions. In the past year, multiple Israeli shepherding outposts have sprung up at different corners of the village, which extends for 20,000 dunums (20sq km or 7.7sq miles), and have come increasingly closer to Palestinian homes.

“Two years of psychological pressure at night,” remarks an exhausted Ghawanmeh, who explains the haphazard shifts the men of his village have been taking to keep watch. “If you sleep, the settlers will burn your house.”

Under the pressure of settler attacks, poisonings and thefts, the number of sheep belonging to the community has dwindled from 24,000 to fewer than 3,000. Settler attacks and invasions have become so constant that nine solidarity activists – some progressives from Israel and others from other countries – were required to keep an around-the-clock protective presence.

Without anywhere else to go – and knowing from both settler threats and accounts from displaced relatives elsewhere that settlers would likely follow them anyway – the people of Ras Ein al-Auja had hung on by a thread.

That is, until the latest settler outpost.

Following a pattern seen in other now-displaced Bedouin communities like nearby Mu’arrajat, some of whose inhabitants fled to Ras Ein al-Auja, settlers began erecting outposts directly next to people’s homes at the beginning of the year – right in the middle of the community.

“Life has completely stopped ever since,” Ghawanmeh says. Families have barricaded themselves inside their houses, terrified of the settlers who now routinely graze their flocks just outside Palestinian homes.

Then, the spate of attacks this month compelled far more families to flee and take their remaining sheep with them. Almost three-quarters of the community has now gone. These families are now scattered across the West Bank although most are now in the cramped towns and cities of Area A, which makes up 18 percent of the West Bank and is administered by the Palestinian Authority.

As a result, these communities’ centuries-old traditions as Bedouins are coming to an end.

“There’s a saying among the Bedouins: ‘Upbringing outweighs origins,’” Ghawanmeh says. “It means you were raised here, you eat from the land, you drink from the land, you sleep on the land. You are from it, and it is from you.”

“To leave your house and leave your village”, he adds, “it is very, very, very difficult. But we are forced to.”

The children who remain have been left rudderless and afraid at night as they look at empty, scarred patches of land where once their friends and family lived. “Children are scared, scared that the settlers, the [settler security guards], will come,” Ghawanmeh says.

Al Jazeera requested comment from the Israeli military about the accusations made in this article and to ask for details about what action is being taken to prevent settler attacks on Palestinian communities, including Ras Ein al-Auja. We received no response.

‘Even if you sing for me until tomorrow, I won’t be happy’

As the swell of violence and land thefts gives way to a steady exodus of the last remaining villagers, a couple of musicians come to provide some relief from another day of traumatic separation and displacement.

“I hope they’ll feel seen, and I hope they’ll feel happy for at least a few moments and that they can feel like children, even if it’s just for a few minutes,” says Kai Jack, a Norwegian solidarity activist and professional contrabass player.

About a dozen children huddle in plastic chairs in a tin shack that once served as the meeting place for the community’s many families to hear this rare performance. As they listen to a handful of Palestinian folk songs, the children, at first timid, relax and begin to clap and sing to staples like Wein a Ramallah (Where? To Ramallah).

For the first time in weeks, the children even manage to crack a few smiles.

And then, Jack and the accompanying violinist, Amalia Kelter Zeitlin, settle into playing the Palestinian lullaby Yamma Mawil al-Hawa (Mother, What’s with the Wind?). The children’s mothers, looking on from the sidelines, begin to softly sing along:

“My life will continue through sacrifice – for freedom.”

As the song ends, the mothers join the children in rounds of applause. “Beautiful?” Jack asks.

“Very,” replies one of the mothers who explains how she helps her child fall to sleep with this very song. “And it has been so long since they were able to [sleep well].”

As the performance ends and the children crowd around Jack’s enormous bass, a few of the remaining Ghawanmeh brothers retreat outside, their minds unable to rest as they contemplate their inevitable expulsion.

“These songs are for the children,” Naif Ghawanmeh says. “We are tired inside. Very tired.”

One of his small nephews, Ahmed, just 2 years old, begins to sing the chorus of Wein a Ramallah. For one brief moment, the atmosphere is almost festive. But while he is happy the children are relaxing, Ghawanmeh shrugs it off himself.

“By God, look at me,” he says over the fire, which is burning whatever supplies they didn’t want to leave for the settlers to take. “Even if you sing for me until tomorrow, I won’t be happy. You see, I’m tired inside. For two years, I’ve been suffering from oppression, hardship and problems day and night from the settlers.

“I’m tired inside.”

Caracas, January 21, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Four Venezuelan private banks received a reported US $300 million from an initial US-administered sale of Venezuelan crude.

According to Ecoanalítica, Banesco, BBVA Provincial, Banco Mercantil, and Banco Nacional de Crédito offered a combined $150 million to customers on Tuesday via foreign exchange auctions, with the rest of the funds expected to be made available by the end of the week.

Unofficial reports suggested that private sector importers in the food and healthcare sectors would be given priority. Analyst Alejandro Grisanti stated that the dollars were purchased slightly below 400 bolívars (BsD) per USD. Unlike in prior exchange tables, the banks were not obliged to use the official exchange rate set by the Central Bank, which stands currently at 347 BsD per USD.

The $300 million comprises a portion of the recently announced $500 million sale of Venezuelan crude that had been in storage due to a US naval blockade since early December, with proceeds reportedly deposited in US government-run accounts in Qatar.

Since the January 3 bombings and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, US President Donald Trump and senior officials have vowed to take control of the Venezuelan oil industry and defend the interests of Western energy conglomerates.

The initial agreement involved around 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude with an estimated return of over $2 billion. Tankers from commodity traders Vitol and Trafigura began moving oil cargoes to Caribbean storage hubs last week.

The allocation of the remaining $200 million from the already executed sales is presently unknown. US officials previously claimed that Venezuela would only be allowed to import from US manufacturers while also floating the possibility of swap deals involving diluents and spare parts for the oil sector and electric grid.

Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed the $300 million received by private banks and identified protecting workers’ incomes as the government’s priority at this moment.

“$300 million has entered the country, to cover the incomes of our workers, protecting their purchasing power from inflation and from foreign exchange instability,” she said during a televised broadcast on Tuesday.

Rodríguez likewise stressed the importance of stabilizing the forex market, with constant devaluations eroding the Venezuelans’ purchasing power. The highly speculative parallel market exchange rate skyrocketed to 900 BsD/USD in early January before expectations of foreign currency injections brought it down under 500.

Amid the initial US-enforced oil deals, the interim Rodríguez administration and National Assembly are moving forward with a reform of the country’s Hydrocarbon Law to expand conditions for foreign investment.

Former President Hugo Chávez overhauled energy legislation in 2001 to establish state control over the oil industry. The Hydrocarbon Law, which was later amended in 2006, mandated that state oil company PDVSA hold majority stakes in all joint ventures and raised royalties and income tax to 33 and 50 percent, respectively.

On Thursday, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez argued that the oil reform is aimed at adapting to the country’s “economic reality” and should not be “a cause for fear or concern.” A first debate on the bill is scheduled for Thursday.

“It is essential to find optimal conditions for investments in so-called green oilfields that are yet to be explored,” he said during a meeting with deputies. “As such, we have to ensure that this foreign investment is protected and profitable.”

The parliamentary leader, who also discussed other upcoming legislative projects, highlighted the so-called Productive Participation Contracts (CPP) as key instruments for oil sector growth that will be included in the reformed legislation.

The CPP models were introduced under the 2020 Anti-Blockade Law. According to industry sources, they are concession-type deals that grant private partners increased control over operations and sales and faster returns on investment through lower taxes and royalty exemptions.

Since 2017, Venezuela’s oil industry has been hard hitby US unilateral coercive measures, including financial sanctions, an export embargo, and secondary sanctions, which aimed at strangling the Caribbean nation’s most important revenue source. US officials have announced a selective flexibilization of sanctions in the immediate future to facilitate oil deals.

The recent naval blockade had an immediate impact on crude output, forcing PDVSA to shut down wells as it ran out of storage. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to the blockade as “leverage” to impose conditions on the Venezuelan government. 

US forces reportedly seized a seventh oil tanker on Tuesday. According to the US Southern Command, the Liberia-flagged Sagitta had loaded crude in Venezuela and is on the US Treasury’s blacklist. US authorities did not disclose whether they took control of the vessel or if it will turn over its cargo.

President Donald Trump climbed into a heavily armored Cadillac Escalade presidential limo after arriving in Davos in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum this morning. This may be the first time Trump has ridden in one of these SUVs, at least at such a high-profile event. The Escalade configuration limos also look to be a new addition to the U.S. Secret Service’s fleet of highly specialized cars and other vehicles.

Trump had initially left Washington, D.C., for Davos last night on board a VC-25A Air Force One jet, which had to turn around “out of an abundance of caution” due to a “minor electrical issue,” according to the White House. The President, as well as other officials and members of the press, ultimately flew to Zurich aboard a smaller C-32A aircraft. A U.S. Marine Corps VH-60N Marine One helicopter then took Trump from Zurich to Davos, where a motorcade, which included at least two Escalades, as well as several Chevy Suburban SUVs, was waiting.

From what can be seen in pictures from Davos, the Escalades have very heavy armoring, especially around the front windshield and doors. They also have an array of antennas at the rear of the roof, as well as one at the front right above the driver’s seat. This is not surprising given that Secret Service vehicles used in the presidential motorcade typically have extensive secure communications suites that can connect with the White House communications vehicle, better known as the Roadrunner.

Details about the Secret Service Escalade are otherwise limited, though it is safe to assume it has a host of additional defensive and other features we cannot readily see. It is also unclear whether Trump has made use of a Secret Service Escalade before elsewhere. Based on the limited motorcade imagery we have reviewed taken over the last few months, we have not seen it. TWZ has reached out to the Secret Service and the White House for more information.

The Secret Service has certainly shuttled Trump (and other Presidents and Vice Presidents) around in the past in up-armored Chevy Suburbans, including during previous trips to Davos. Since the early 2000s, Suburbans have been used increasingly interchangeably with more eye-catching custom-built presidential limousines for presidential movements. The latter vehicles, nicknamed “Beasts,” externally resemble stretched Cadillac sedans, but are actually now built on a modified truck chassis. The Secret Service has disclosed in the past that the newest version incorporates internal design elements taken directly from the Escalade line. You can read more about the Beasts here.

The video below shows President Trump’s motorcade, full of Chevy Suburbans, in Davos in 2018.

25.01.2018 – Donald Trump arriva al WEF di Davos

There is a question of how new the Escalades may actually be. Though elements of their bodies are outwardly different, underneath, Suburbans and Escalades have shared the same core platform for decades. The Secret Service has already been using armored Suburbans of the same generation as the Escalades seen in Davos to move Trump for some time.

So are the Escalades really just the Secret Service’s existing armored Suburban base configuration that we have seen in the past, but given an Escalade facelift, including a new front fascia and chrome accents, among other features? They could also be Escalades of this generation customized identically to their Suburban counterparts for the role. It’s unclear at this time, but adapting the already custom-armored Suburban configuration that currently carries the President with a more grand look certainly would make sense, especially for Trump. Also, the latest Escalade model based on the newest generation of Suburban is now itself over half a decade old, making use of an even older generation of Escalade like this to develop an entirely new limo configuration questionable.

The Chevy Suburban family has been the SUV of choice for the Secret Service, as well as many other U.S. government agencies, for decades now. GM has separately developed a factory-standard up-armored Suburban configuration for the U.S. State Department in recent years.

However, last March, the Secret Service shared that Director Sean Curran had “met with GM executives to discuss advancements that could benefit the next generation of armored SUVs” in a post on X.

An accompanying picture from Curran’s visit with GM, seen below, showed an image on display at the GM site featuring a newer generation Escalade flanked by seals of the office of the President of the United States. The presence of the seals pointed to a configuration intended for use as a presidential limo role.

Reuters also reported last March that GM had received a new contract from the Homeland Security Department and the Secret Service for the development of a next-generation presidential limousine. Though that story mentioned Director Curran’s trip to GM, it did not explicitly say what vehicle the new limo might be based on or when it might enter service.

“We are too far out to speak to any specific costs or dates,” a Secret Service spokesperson had told Reuters last year. “Our engineering, protective operations and technical security teams work for years to develop the state-of-the-art framework that is used to produce these highly advanced vehicles.”

It is also worth noting that the most recent version of the Beast made its public debut in 2018 during President Trump’s first term when he visited New York City for that year’s U.N. General Assembly meeting, as seen below. The Secret Service has said in the past that the custom vehicles have a typical life span of around eight years. With this timeline in mind, a new version could be on the cusp of entering service, if it hasn’t already.

(READ FULL DESCRIPTION) – PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP & MOTORCADE, USING BRAND NEW BEAST LIMOUSINES.

Regardless, the Secret Service has a clear imperative to keep its fleets as capable and otherwise up-to-date as possible to help in protecting the president, as well as other senior U.S. officials and foreign dignitaries. In the past, TWZ has highlighted the ever-growing threats posed by drones, including weaponized commercial types, as something the Secret Service also now has to factor into its vehicle requirements.

“Countering evolving threats require [sic] us to constantly explore new innovations and improvements to our armored fleet of protective vehicles,” the Secret Service wrote in the post on X last year regarding Director Curran’s meeting with GM.

If President Trump begins making more use of Secret Service Escalades, more details about those vehicles may begin to emerge.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, says it will launch more than 5,400 satellites to create a new communications network.

Named TeraWave, it will offer continuous internet access around the world, with the ability to move large amounts of data much more quickly than rival services.

But even after launching thousands of satellites, Blue Origin would still have far fewer in orbit than Elon Musk’s Starlink, which currently dominates the satellite internet market.

Starlink – part of Musk’s rocket firm SpaceX – also offers internet and phone services to individual customers, while Blue Origin says TeraWave will be focused on data centres, businesses and governments.

Blue Origin said its network, at its fastest, would allow upload and download speeds of as much as 6 terabits per second, much faster than rival commercial satellite services currently offer.

Another competitor to TeraWave is Amazon, the technology giant that made Bezos a multi-billionaire. He is still Amazon’s executive chairman after stepping down in 2021 as its chief executive.

Amazon’s satellite venture is called Leo. While it currently has only 80 satellites in orbit, having launched dozens more just last week, it plans to have more than 3,000 in orbit.

Like Starlink, Amazon is also more focused on the general public than businesses and governments, pitching Leo as a way to offer high-speed internet access globally. It has not said when all of the Leo satellites will be in orbit.

Blue Origin said it will start launching its TeraWave satellites by the end of 2027.

In November, the company successfully landed a rocket booster on a floating platform for the first time.

Only SpaceX had previously accomplished this feat.

In April, Blue Origin launched an 11-minute space flight with an all-female crew, including Bezos’ now-wife Lauren Sánchez, singer Katie Perry and CBS presenter Gayle King.

But some commentators said it was “tone deaf” for celebrities to be taking part in such a fleeting and expensive trip at a time of economic struggle.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced its latest immigration enforcement operation, this time in the northeastern state of Maine.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that immigration raids had begun a day earlier, under the name “Operation Catch of the Day”.

In a statement, a Trump administration spokesperson appeared to signal that targeting Maine was a political response to the ongoing feud between the president and the state’s governor, Democrat Janet Mills.

“Governor Mills and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Maine have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand with criminal illegal aliens than protect law-abiding American citizens,” said spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

But rumours have swirled that Maine was singled out for its significant Somali American population in the cities of Portland and Lewiston. Estimates put the total number of Somali Americans in the state at about 3,000.

Trump has repeatedly denounced the Somali community over the past several months, comparing its members to “garbage” at a December cabinet meeting. As recently as Tuesday, he used his White House podium to call Somalis and Somali Americans “ a lot of very low IQ people”.

Racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric has been a trademark of Trump’s campaigns for public office, and he has repeatedly singled out specific groups – including Haitians and Mexicans – to falsely tie their immigrant identity to pervasive criminal activity.

Parallels with Minnesota

Trump’s focus on the Somali community comes after a handful of members were implicated in a fraud scandal in Minnesota, a midwestern state where immigration enforcement operations were launched in December.

Those efforts have been marked by violent clashes between federal agents and protesters, and one woman, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was shot dead in her car after an interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Fears that those tensions could spill into Maine dominated a Wednesday news conference with city officials in Portland.

Mayor Mark Dion told reporters that immigrant communities in the region felt “anxious and fearful” as ICE agents began their crackdown.

“They see this action as unpredictable and a threat to their families,” he explained.

He also questioned whether a heavy-handed operation was necessary to address immigration infractions in the area, and he called on ICE to adopt different tactics than it had in Minnesota.

“I want to underscore one important point: While we respect the law, we challenge the need for a paramilitary approach to the enforcement of federal statutes,” Dion said.

“Federal immigration law is lawful. Its administration and enforcement is lawful,” he added. “What we’ve been concerned with, as a council, is the enforcement tactics that ICE has undertaken in other communities, which to our mind appear to threaten and intimidate populations.”

Nevertheless, Dion expressed optimism that ICE would adopt a more tailored approach to apprehending local suspects.

While the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has seen nearly 2,000 immigration officers flood its streets, the mayor predicted that Maine would not see the same “massing of federal agents”.

“We’re seeing very individualised activity by ICE. A person here, a neighbourhood there,” he said. “Their conduct, at least as it is current in Maine, seems to be focused, which would indicate to me – and this is the speculation – that they’re functioning on the basis of an actual court warrant.”

That, he said, marked a departure from the “random, show-me-your-papers kind of experience” that residents had experienced in Minnesota.

Outrage at ICE operations

Still, while Dion advocated for a wait-and-see approach to the ICE operation, other city officials took a harder stance.

One Portland city councillor,  Wesley Pelletier, described the unfolding raids as part of “an agenda of white nationalism and might makes right”.

“This is a war of terror that’s being waged on our city by the federal government,” Pelletier said. “We’ve seen people of all ages getting thrown on the ground and getting thrown into trucks.”

So far, Fox News quoted ICE Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde as saying the agency had made 50 arrests so far as part of operation “Catch of the Day”. Hyde added that ICE had identified nearly 1,400 individuals to detain in Maine.

Wednesday’s statement from the Department of Homeland Security highlighted four arrests as examples, showing people from Sudan, Guatemala, Ethiopia and Angola.

It described the four individuals as “the worst of the worst” and accused them of crimes ranging from aggravated assault to endangering the welfare of a child, though it was unclear in one case if the accusation had resulted in a conviction.

“We are no longer allowing criminal illegal aliens to terrorize American citizens,” McLaughlin said in the statement.

But Democratic officials in the state suggested that the Trump administration had refused to coordinate in the lead-up to “Catch of the Day”, heightening anxiety on the local level.

On January 14, nearly a week before the operation was launched, Governor Mills posted on social media that she had “attempted, unsuccessfully thus far, to confirm” the upcoming surge in federal immigration enforcement.

In a video statement, she said the state had reached out to local governments in Portland and Lewiston to prepare. She added that she too felt “angry” about the expected surge.

“Our goal, as always, will be to protect the safety and the rights of the people of Maine,” Mills said.

“To the federal government, I say this: If your plan is to come here to be provocative and to undermine the civil rights of Maine residents, do not be confused. Those tactics are not welcome here to the people of Maine.”

She also took a jab at the trend of federal agents using masks and other facial coverings to conceal their identities.

“Look, Maine knows what good law enforcement looks like because our law enforcement are held to high professional standards,” Mills said. “They are accountable to the law. And I’ll tell you this: They don’t wear a mask to shield their identities, and they don’t arrest people in order to fill a quota.”

A political rivalry

Mills and Trump have long been political adversaries, with their feud erupting in a public forum. In February last year, shortly after Trump returned to office for a second term, he hosted a White House gathering for governors, where he called out Mills personally.

“Is Maine here? The governor of Maine?” Trump said while outlining policies barring transgender athletes from sporting events. “Are you not going to comply with it?”

“I’m complying with state and federal law,” Mills responded. The tension escalated from there.

“You’d better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any, any federal funding,” Trump shot back.

“See you in court,” Mills replied.

“Good. I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a really easy one. And enjoy your life after, governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics,” he said.

The interaction made national news and cemented the frosty relationship between the two leaders, with Trump demanding an apology and slamming the Democratic governor for months afterwards.

His administration also took a series of escalating actions designed to target Mills, including launching an education probe in her state, suspending a marine research grant and freezing other federal funds to Maine.

In response to this week’s ICE deployment, Mills issued a short statement acknowledging the Trump administration’s latest efforts.

“Together, we will continue to place the safety and civil rights of Maine people above all else, and remain vigilant in our defense of due process and the rule of law,” she wrote.

Maine is set to hold its next gubernatorial race in 2026, as part of the year’s midterm election cycle.

Having served two terms as governor, Mills is not eligible for re-election and will instead be making a run for the US Senate, challenging Republican incumbent Susan Collins.