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United Nations peacekeepers say a drone ‘dropped a grenade’ on its troops as Israel continued attacks on Lebanon.

Israeli strikes have killed two people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Public Health said an “Israeli enemy strike” on a vehicle in Mansuri in southern Lebanon had killed one person.

It also said that a strike on the southern town of Mayfadun killed one person the previous night. Israel said the victim of that attack was a Hezbollah member who it alleged “took part in attempts to reestablish Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the Zawtar al-Sharqiyah area”.

The Israeli military on Thursday also carried out several strikes in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa region, north of the Litani River, after issuing warnings to evacuate.

United Nations peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon on Friday sent a stop-fire request to the Israeli army after a drone “dropped a grenade” on its troops. It was unclear if the grenade exploded or not.

UNIFIL said such activities put both civilians and peacekeepers at risk and constitute a violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

UNIFIL was established in 1978 following Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon and saw its mandate significantly expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah under Resolution 1701.

More than 10,000 peacekeepers were deployed to monitor the cessation of hostilities and support the Lebanese army’s presence south of the Litani River.

The UN Security Council decided in August to end UNIFIL’s mandate on December 31, 2026, followed by a one-year plan for a phased drawdown of forces.

Israel has continued violating the ceasefire with Hezbollah in place since late November 2024, resulting in hundreds of casualties, while Israeli forces remain on five Lebanese hills seized in the latest war, in addition to other areas occupied for decades.

Lebanon has faced growing ‌pressure from the US ⁠and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, and its leaders fear that Israel could dramatically escalate strikes ‌across the battered country to push Lebanon’s leaders to confiscate Hezbollah’s arsenal more quickly.

Jan. 16 (UPI) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday where they unveiled a “strategic partnership,” including a new trade deal, amid a thaw of an almost decade-long deep freeze in relations between the two countries.

Welcoming Carney at the Great Hall of the People, the first visit of a Canadian leader in eight years, Xi lauded the “turnaround,” noting that cooperation in recent months had already yielded “positive results” and that he was committed to further strengthening the relationship.

Carney said the relationship would deliver “stability, security and prosperity” for Chinese and Canadians alike, saying agriculture, energy and finance were the issues where efforts should be directed.

“That’s where we can make most immediate progress,” he said.

After their meeting, Carney emerged to announce a five-point partnership — the fruit of “recalibrating distant and uncertain ties” since he came into office in March — with a focus on boosting agri-food trade and clean energy and climate competitiveness, along with championing multilateralism and cultural exchange.

The trade deal will see China slash tariffs on Canadian canola seeds, peas and shellfish — worth as much as $3 billion in new orders — in exchange for Canada slashing its 100% tariff on 49,000 Chinese-made electric to just 6.1%, and Chinese investment in the development of clean power.

The deal unlocks an expected flow of Canadian investment in the other direction into aerospace, sectors, including services, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, as well as a potential increase in oil and gas exports to China.

Carney’s visit kicked off with a meeting Thursday with Premier Li Qiang with the Canadian delegation holding a series of ministerial-level meetings that yielded an MOU to hold more in-depth discussions oil and gas resource development, including LNG along with LPG, as well as cutting emissions.

“They are very clear, they would like more Canadian products,” said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.

At a news conference with Li, Carney said the progress made in their new partnership would help position Canada and China up “for the new world order.”

He later clarified, saying what he meant was the decades-old multilateral, rules-based international order was no longer intact and was being superseded by a new one.

“The world is still determining what that order is going to be. The multilateral system that has been developing these has been eroded, to use a polite term, or undercut,” he explained.

Carney stressed Friday that differences between the two sides remained and that he had emphasized to Xi areas where Canada would never compromise, including human rights and issues such as election interference.

Ties have been stretched to the limit by a series of diplomatic and trade frictions dating back years but relations took a nose-dive in 2018 after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant, with China retaliating by detaining Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on espionage charges.

All three eventually made it home after a swap in 2021 but relations were tested again in 2023 after Ottawa accused Beijing of attempting to influence the result of Canadian federal elections in 2019 and 2021.

More recently, the Canadian government condemned China in March for executing four dual Chinese-Canadian citizens on drug-related charges.

Wimbledon plans to treble the size of the existing site in London, adding 39 courts, but campaigners seek to block move.

Wimbledon’s ‌plans to expand the grounds for the world’s oldest ‍and most ‍prestigious Grand Slam tennis tournament were back in court on Friday, as campaigners again seek to block the project.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club ⁠wants to treble the size of its main site, which ​has been home to the Championships since 1877, in ‍a 200 million-pound ($267.9m) project which would feature 39 new courts.

The AELTC’s plans to redevelop a former golf course, which it owns, are ‍supported by ⁠several leading players and some residents.

But campaign group Save Wimbledon Park, which took legal action to challenge planning permission, argues the land is subject to a statutory trust, meaning it must be kept for public recreation.

The AELTC is seeking a ruling from London’s High ​Court that the land is not subject ‌to such a trust, with its lawyers saying it has never been used for public recreation.

Dozens of Save Wimbledon Park’s supporters gathered outside the court before ‌Friday’s hearing, including two women dressed as tennis balls holding a sign which said: “Balls ‌to AELTC.”

The expansion plans were at ⁠the centre of a separate case last summer, when Save Wimbledon Park challenged planning permission approved by the Greater London Authority in 2024.

Save Wimbledon Park ‌argued in that case that the GLA failed to properly take account of restrictions on redeveloping the land. Their challenge was ‍rejected, but the group has since been granted permission to appeal against that ruling.

Unsettled forward Mohamed Salah is set to return to Liverpool on Sunday, once his AFCON duty with Egypt comes to an end.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said he would welcome Mohamed Salah back at the Premier League champions even if he had 15 attackers, as the Egypt forward nears a return from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Salah is set to play in Egypt’s third-place playoff match against Nigeria in Morocco on Saturday, after the Pharaohs lost their AFCON semifinal against Senegal.

His impending return has been a major talking point after he took aim at the club in an explosive interview in early December.

Salah accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after he was benched for three games in a row, and said he had no relationship with manager Slot.

The 33-year-old was then dropped for the Reds’ Champions League game at Inter Milan, while interest grew in the Saudi Pro League about signing the unsettled star.

But he appeared as a substitute in a 2-0 Premier League win against Brighton on December 13, providing an assist, and Slot subsequently said the club had moved on from the furore.

Slot, whose fourth-placed team host struggling Burnley on Saturday, was asked at his pre-match news conference about Salah’s return on Sunday.

“First of all, he needs to play another big game for Egypt on Saturday,” said the Dutchman.

“And then he comes back to us, and I’m happy that he comes back. Mo has been so important for this club, for me, so I’m happy that he’s back.

“Because even if I had 15 attackers, I still would have been happy if he would have come back, but that’s not our current situation. So I’m happy to have him back after an important game that he still has to play.”

Salah scored 29 Premier League goals to win the Premier League Golden Boot last season as Liverpool romped to a 20th English league title, but has managed just four league goals during the current campaign.

Slot was asked when he expected Salah to be available to play.

“Next week,” he said. “We’re in talks with him, what is expected of him over there and what we expect over here.

“But first of all, he needs to have an important game on Saturday, and next week he will be back with us.”

Liverpool take on Roberto de Zerbi’s Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday before travelling to Bournemouth next weekend.

The Premier League champions’ title defence collapsed with a run of six defeats in seven league matches starting in late September.

But Slot has steadied the ship, and the club are now unbeaten in 11 games in all competitions.

Sanaa, Yemen – Naef has been a government soldier in southern Yemen for nine years. When he joined the government army in 2016 – aged only 19 – he thought that the Yemeni government’s war against the Houthi rebel group would be brief.  A decade has elapsed, and the conflict remains unsettled, with the Houthis remaining in Sanaa.

Naef was clear as to the reason for the government’s failure – a lack of unity and clear command structure. For years, government soldiers and other anti-Houthi fighters have adhered to conflicting agendas across the country, with many of the fighters in the south supporting the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC). A solution to that division, Naef thought, was far-fetched.

However, more recently, things have changed. The STC’s decision to attempt to seize all of southern and eastern Yemen backfired, and Saudi Arabia backed pro-government troops in pushing the group back. The STC is now divided, with one leader on the run, and others declaring that the group had been dissolved.

The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Yemen’s UN-recognised authority led by President Rashad al-Alimi, has seized the initiative and, on January 10, established the Supreme Military Committee (SMC), with the goal of overseeing all anti-Houthi military units, and integrating them into the official Yemeni military, under one command.

Al-Alimi said that the SMC would ultimately be a vehicle to defeat the Houthis, and reclaim all of Yemen.

The SMC announcement marks a dramatic twist in the decade-long war, and Naef is now – finally – hopeful.

“I am optimistic today as the government has revived some of its power in southern Yemen,” he told Al Jazeera. “The formation of an inclusive military committee is a boost to our morale and a prelude to a powerful government comeback.”

The soldier believes that, after years of inertia, the tide has finally turned for the government. After nine years of experience on multiple frontlines, Naef now thinks that the government – with the backing of Saudi Arabia – is capable of pushing into Houthi-controlled northwestern Yemen, should negotiations fail.

“The PLC has achieved remarkable success in the south over the past few weeks with support from the Saudi leadership. It has once again proven to be an indispensable party to the conflict. Whether this success will be short-lived or lasting remains to be seen,” said Naef.

Concerns and defiance

The formation of the SMC has unleashed a sense of concern among Houthi supporters in northern Yemen.

Hamza Abdu, a 24-year-old Houthi supporter in Sanaa, describes the new military committee as an “attempt to organise the proxies in the south”.

“This committee may end the friction between the militant groups in the south, but it will deepen the south’s subjugation to Saudi Arabia,” Hamza said. The Houthis have often framed their opponents as being proxies controlled by foreign powers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They themselves are backed by Iran.

In light of the developments, Hamza shared a concern: the resumption of the war between the Houthis and their opponents, which has largely been frozen since 2022.

“If this military committee succeeded in uniting the forces in the south, that might entice them to attack the north,” he said. “A new destructive war will begin, and the humanitarian ordeal will magnify.”

Like many ordinary citizens, Hamza is now fearful that the war will restart. But Houthi leaders – while warning that their forces should stay alert – are still confident, saying that the formation of the SMC will not affect their power or weaken their control.

Aziz Rashid, a pro-Houthi military expert, believes that the SMC will not alter the status quo, arguing that any future confrontation with the Houthis “will only serve the agendas and plans of the United States-supported Zionist entity [Israel]”.

Rashid indicated that Houthi forces in Sanaa “confronted international and powerful military forces, including the United States, Britain and Israel, and stood firm against the [Saudi-led Arab] coalition during the past 10 years”.

The only solution for Yemen, Rashid said, was a political settlement.

The Iran-backed Houthis took over Sanaa in September 2014 and toppled the UN-recognised government in February 2015. They insist they are the only legitimate authority governing Yemen.

The Houthis have faced attacks from the US, the United Kingdom, and Israel since 2023, when the Yemeni group began attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Israel itself, in what the Houthis declared was solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

A terrifying message

Defeating the Houthis will be easier said than done, considering the Saudi-backed coalition’s failure to do so with overwhelming air power in the early years of the war, and the group’s now extensive combat experience and possession of advanced weapons, including drones and missiles.

But if the Yemeni military does truly reorganise itself and integrate the different anti-Houthi forces on the ground, the opportunity may be there.

Adel Dashela, a Yemeni researcher and non-resident fellow at MESA Global Academy, said that if the SMC is able to provide security and stability in territory under its control, it may also be able to improve the lives of Yemenis living there – and put itself in a stronger position in any negotiations with the Houthis.

“The next stage is the start of a political process to reach an agreement with the Houthi group. If the peaceful option fails, the military action becomes necessary,” Dashela told Al Jazeera.

Abdulsalam Mohammed, the head of the Yemeni Abaad Studies and Research Center, believes that recent events – both inside and outside Yemen – provide the government with a perfect opportunity to confront the Houthis.

“A limited military operation routed the UAE-backed STC within a few days,” Mohammed said. “What happened to the STC in the south carried a terrifying message to the Houthis in the north. The Houthis are not invincible.”

According to Mohammed, some factors have magnified the vulnerability of the Houthis at present.

He explained, “Iran is undergoing a massive crisis, and this can weaken Tehran’s Houthi proxy. The popular silent rage against the group keeps growing, given the economic and governance issues in areas under their control. Moreover, the exit of the UAE from the south will enable the Yemeni government to shift the battle to the Houthis in the north.”

Desperate for order

Armed groups in Yemen have proliferated over the last decade. The outcome has been a weakened government and a prolonged war. Amid the chaos, the population has borne the brunt.

Fawaz Ahmed, a 33-year-old resident of the southern city of Aden, is hopeful that the establishment of a military committee will end the presence of armed groups in Aden and other southern cities.

Fawaz expects Aden to get two immediate benefits from the formation of the SMC: an end to unlawful money collection by fighters and the disappearance of infighting between competing armed units.

He recalled an incident last August in Aden’s Khormaksar district, when two military units clashed at the headquarters of the Immigration and Passports Authority, leading to the closure of the facility for days.

“The commanders of the armed groups issued conflicting directions, and soldiers opened fire on each other. This clearly points to the absence of a united leadership. So, the declared military committee will prevent such face-offs,” said Fawaz.

“We are desperate for law and order,” Fawaz said. “Desperate for a city free from an unneeded military presence. This is a collective dream in Aden. Only united military leadership can achieve this.”

Jan. 16 (UPI) — More than 4.7 million social media accounts belonging to Australians under the age of 16 have been removed since the nation’s new social media youth ban went into effect last month, Canberra announced Friday.

“Our government has acted to help keep kids safe online,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.

“Change doesn’t happen overnight. But these early signs show it’s important we’ve acted to make this change. We want our kids to have a childhood and parents to know we have their backs.”

Albanese introduced the law in 2024, calling it “world-leading,” with the intent to protect Australia’s youth from harms presented online, including Internet addiction.

The ban went into effect Dec. 11, ordering the most popular social media platforms to remove accounts held by those under the age of 16 and to block the creation of new accounts.

Some social media companies, including Meta — which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads — began preemptively removing accounts held by those under the age of 16 and blocking the creation of new accounts for these youth starting Dec. 4.

Violations are to be enforced against the companies, not users. Platforms affected are: Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X, Reddit, YouTube, Twitch, Kick and Snapchat. Others, such as Bluesky, Steam and WhatsApp, could be added if they gain significantly more users or are otherwise deemed social media instead of gaming or peer-to-peer communication services.

The preliminary figures announced Friday were what the Albanese government called a first tranche of information provided to the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

There are approximately 2.5 million Australians between the ages of 8 and 15, according to statistics from the government, which said that in 2025, 84% of children between 8 and 12 had social media accounts.

“Now Australian parents can be confident that their kids can have their childhood back,” Minister for Communications Anika Wells said Friday in a Press conference in Murarrie, Queensland.

“They can discover and learn who they are before these platforms assume who they are. They can spend a summer making real-world connections with each other, with their siblings, with their parents, skateboarding, writing, reading, art, music. I don’t care what it is, but it’s off the screen and discovering for themselves who they are and forging connections in the real world.”

Grant told reporters that all 10 social media platforms were in compliance, and no other services were being considered to be added for now.

Given the number of youth and the number of accounts removed, journalists asked if the numbers were at all inflated. Grant said no, explaining that more than 95% of 8 to 15 year-olds were on YouTube.

“I’m very confident these numbers are right, but we will continue to check,” she said.

The law has attracted criticism from social media companies. Earlier this week, Meta voiced concerns that prohibiting youth from their services could isolate vulnerable teens from their online communities, while driving some to less reputable services.

Grant said that the government doesn’t expect the law to eliminate every account and it is not trying to prevent children from accessing technology.

“What we’re actually doing is we’re preventing predatory social media companies from accessing our children,” she said. “And we will be working on digital action plans so that we make sure that they’re building digital and algorithmic literacy into the years to come.”

Researchers at the University of Queensland have said that teenagers on social media have increased exposure to harm, social isolation, depression, anxiety and cyberbullying.

A 2024 study from Orygen, the world’s leading research and knowledge organization for youth mental health, found nearly all Australian youth reported daily social media use. It also found that nearly 40% spent three or more hours online a day.

The announcement comes days after Meta announced that it had so far removed more than 500,000 accounts from Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

A South ‍Korean court ‍has sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in jail after finding him ⁠guilty on charges stemming from his declaration of martial law ‍in ⁠December 2024. Al Jazeera’s Jack Barton is outside the court in Seoul.

Gaza City – Peace, in both the physical and mental sense, feels far away in Gaza.

A ceasefire may have officially been in place since October 10, but Israel continues to conduct occasional attacks, with more than 442 Palestinians killed in the three months since.

It is not just the attacks – daily life in Gaza is also shaped by siege and displacement, and a sense that living conditions will not improve any time soon.

Amid this exhaustion came the announcement on Wednesday by the United States of the beginning of the ceasefire’s “second phase”. This phase is about “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction”, said US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in a social media post.

The new phase includes a new Palestinian technocratic administration, overseen by an international “Board of Peace”, chaired by US President Donald Trump.

But while everything may sound workable on paper, the reaction from Palestinians in Gaza – one that mixes cautious hope and deep scepticism – is shaped by their lived experience since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

“A lot of political decisions are distant from the reality faced in Gaza… our daily life that is filled with blockades, fear, loss, tents, and a terrible humanitarian situation,” said Arwa Ashour, a freelance journalist and writer based in Gaza City. “Even when decisions are made to ease the suffering, they are obstructed by the Israeli occupation authorities.”

“People want everything back like it was before the war: schools, hospitals, travel,” Ashour said. “If the Board of Peace is going to resolve all these crises, then we welcome it. But if it’s unable to do so, then what is its benefit?”

Palestinians excluded?

Ashour explained that after two years of war and more than 18 years of governance in the Palestinian enclave by Hamas, there is a desire for change in Gaza.

“People want to be part of the process of creating the future, not only to accept the implementation of decisions that have already been made,” she said.

The governance model envisaged in the second phase of the ceasefire plan does have a Palestinian component.

Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian Authority (PA) deputy minister, will head the Palestinian technocratic committee that will manage daily life. But that committee will be overseen by the Board of Peace, to be led by Bulgaria’s former foreign and defence minister, Nickolay Mladenov.

Mladenov – who has worked as a United Nations diplomat in the Middle East – is seen as an administrator, but one who may not be capable of pushing back against Israel and representing Palestinians in Gaza.

“Decisions made without the meaningful participation of those most affected reproduce the same power structures that enabled this occupation and genocide,” Maha Hussaini, head of media and public engagement at Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, told Al Jazeera. “Excluding Palestinians in Gaza from shaping their future strips them of agency and turns reconstruction and governance into tools of control rather than recovery.”

For Hussaini, justice after a war in which Israel has killed at least 71,400 Palestinians and destroyed vast swathes of the territory cannot be ignored.

“Peace does not mean silence after bombardment, nor a pause between wars,” she said. “For Gaza, peace means safety, dignity, and freedom from collective punishment. It also means justice: recognising the harm suffered, restoring the rights of victims, and holding perpetrators accountable. Without justice, what is called ‘peace’ becomes only a temporary arrangement that leaves the genocide intact.”

Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Fayyad said that ultimately, Palestinians have little choice but to go along with Mladenov and the Board of Peace model, even if there is a sense that they are handing over the administration of Gaza to foreigners.

“Palestinians don’t have the luxury of choice to accept or refuse Mladenov,” Fayyad said. “No one – the Palestinian Authority and the Arab [countries] – wants to disrupt the agreement.”

But Fayyad described several potential stumbling blocks, including internal Palestinian divisions between the Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, and its longtime rival Hamas.

The analyst also believes that the demilitarisation of Hamas – which the US and Israel insist upon, but which Hamas says is an internal Palestinian matter – will also likely cause problems.

“Israel might attach the demilitarisation to the reconstruction or the opening of [border] crossings, and investments in the education and health sectors,” Fayyad said.

“It is complicated, and it is all subject to Israeli security conditions,” he continued, adding that the formation of a new Palestinian security force that met Israel’s onerous requirements would take a long time because the process was not spelled out in Trump’s ceasefire plan.

“This will reflect negatively on the civilians who yearn for an improvement to their daily harsh reality and suffering in tents, amid outbreaks of disease and the collapse of all economic and social life,” Fayyad said.

Israeli spoiler

The announcement of the second phase of the ceasefire – a move that should have been seen as a sign of positive improvement – seems disconnected to the reality on the ground for Palestinians in Gaza.

“There is more fear than hope,” said Hussaini, from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. “Not because people in Gaza lack resilience or imagination, but because experience has taught them that moments labelled as ‘turning points’ rarely translate into real protection or accountability. Hope exists, but it is fragile and constantly undermined by the absence of justice and by decisions imposed from outside.”

And the most influential outside force is Israel – the power that has bombarded Gaza not just in the last two years but in several previous wars, and controls access to Gaza, and the air and sea that surrounds it.

“I think Israel tries its best to distance Gaza from any political solutions, which would end with Palestine’s right to self-determination,” said the analyst Fayyad. “Israel wants Gaza to be a disarmed zone; its people’s biggest concerns are the daily struggles of life, without caring about any political solutions.”

“Israel doesn’t want any future political solutions for Gaza. These are the concerns of the Authority and the Palestinians. Israel doesn’t want independence in decision-making in Palestine,” he concluded.

Reality of life in Gaza

The daily struggle of life is all Sami Balousha, a 30-year-old computer programmer from Gaza City, can think about.

Balousha described peace not as a political agreement, conducted in far-off meeting rooms, but as physical safety and a routine.

“It is simply to sleep at night assured that I wake up the next morning, not dead, or I won’t get up in the middle of the night because of the sound of bombing,” Balousha said. “It is getting up the next morning and going to work, and being sure that I will be able to get home safely, not suspiciously turning around all the time, afraid of a strike.”

Balousha said that he had been displaced with his family 17 times – moving from place to place to escape Israeli attacks. The mental turmoil of the past two years means he no longer looks to the future, and instead focuses on the here and now.

“Tomorrow is far away, and I have no control over it,” Balousha said. “We can’t imagine the near future and plan it. We’ve been stuck in this loop for two years. The reality has always been strangely hard and unexpected.”

Like many others, Balousha feels disconnected from international decision-making.

“They don’t have a deep understanding of the Palestinians’ needs in Gaza. I don’t think that we are being listened to seriously,” he said.

It is why he ultimately does not have much faith in any solutions being cooked up for Gaza, and is instead fearful that his current horror will become a permanent reality.

“I am afraid that the coming generations accept the new reality of living in an open grave, to accept the tent as a home, to grow up not knowing the great days of Gaza,” Balousha said. “People only want an end to this all, no matter what the solution is, no matter who makes it, all that matters is the end of this misery at any cost. People are tired, so tired of this all, but want to live.”

Jan. 15 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Thursday greeted Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at the White House where she presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, which he accepted.

Machado, leader of the Venezuela’s center-right Vente Venezuela party, was awarded the medal, which Trump heavily campaigned for, last year for her work to promote democratic rights in her South American nation.

“It was a Great Honor to meet Maria Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”

In presenting the medal to Trump, she said it is a symbol of the unity of their two peoples on the ideals of freedom, sovereignty and democratic dignity.

“It is also a profound expression of gratitude for the invaluable support of President Trump and the United States for the Venezuelan people in this decisive struggle for our independence and the restoration of popular sovereignty,” she said, according to a statement from her Vente Venezuela party.

The American president has long sought to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado first publicly offered to give her medal to Trump earlier this month for the U.S. military operation that resulted in the seizure of Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute responded to the situation with a statement that “Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time” — a statement it reiterated on Thursday.

“A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot,” it said.

During her visit to Washington, Machado also visited with Republican and Democrat lawmakers at the Capitol.

“I want to assure you that we are going to turn Venezuela into a free and safe country, and into the strongest ally the United States has ever had in this region — when Venezuela is free,” she said.

Ahead of Venezuela’s 2024 election, Machado won her primary bid to oppose Maduro, but was banned from running. Candidate Edmundo Gonzalez was widely seen as having won the election, but the state-run election agency named Maduro the winner.

Machado then left the country.

Despite the removal of Maduro, Maduro’s government remains in power, with Delcy Rodriguez, former vice president of Venezuela, serving as the country’s interim leader.

“If one day, as acting president, I have to go to Washington, I will do so with my head held high, not on my knees,” Rodriguez told lawmakers Thursday in a jab at Machado.

No casualties reported as huge fire breaks out in village of makeshift homes located on fringe of Seoul’s upmarket Gangnam district.

Hundreds of South Korean firefighters are battling a major fire in a deprived area located on the fringe of the upmarket Gangnam district in the capital, Seoul.

The blaze broke out at about 5am local time (20:00 GMT) on Friday, and authorities raised the fire alert to the second-highest level, with some 300 firefighters deployed to fight the blaze amid fears it might spread to a nearby mountain, the country’s official Yonhap News Agency reports.

There were no initial reports of casualties as dozens of residents in Guryong Village, which was described by Yonhap as “one of the last remaining shanty towns in Seoul”, were forced to flee their homes, according to fire officials.

Photographs from the scene showed ‍a towering column of black smoke hanging over the area, as elderly residents wearing face masks evacuated.

Yonhap reported that 85 fire trucks were sent to tackle the fire, and a firefighting helicopter was prevented from participating due to poor visibility.

“I was asleep until a neighbour called saying there was a fire. I ran out and saw the flames already spreading,” Kim Ok-im, 69, who said she had lived in the area for nearly 30 years, told the Reuters news agency.

Guryong Village is situated on the fringe of the upmarket Gangnam district, which is known as Seoul’s wealthiest area and commands some of the highest prices paid for real estate in South Korea.

The ramshackle housing in the village formed in the 1970s and 1980s, when low-income residents in the area were forced to move as the capital underwent major redevelopment, including during the Asian Games and the Seoul Olympics.

At that time, locals settled on the edge of Gangnam without permits, according to a Seoul city planning report.

The makeshift homes found in the village are ‌often densely packed together and built with highly flammable materials such as vinyl sheets, plywood and styrofoam, making the area particularly vulnerable to fires, according to an assessment by the fire department after a blaze in 2023.

Most residents have moved out of Guryong, but about 336 households remain, according to the Gangnam District city planning department.

US forces say another Venezuela-linked tanker seized as Trump continues moves to take control of nation’s oil reserves.

United States forces have seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean that the Trump administration said had links to Venezuela, the sixth tanker vessel detained as Washington moves to take full control of Venezuelan oil resources.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the US Coast Guard had boarded the tanker Veronica early on Thursday.

Noem said the vessel had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean”.

US Marines and sailors stationed on board the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford took part in the operation alongside a coastguard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding.

The US military said the ship was seized “without incident”.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by US forces as part of President Trump’s promise to take indefinite control of the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products. It was also the fourth ship seized since the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation in Caracas almost two weeks ago.

The latest seizure came as Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, told parliament on Thursday that there would be reforms to legislation governing Venezuela’s oil sector. The Hydrocarbons Law, among other provisions, limits the involvement of foreign entities in exploiting the country’s national resources.

Without providing details, Rodriguez told parliament the reforms would touch on Venezuela’s so-called anti-blockade law, which provides the government with tools to counteract US sanctions in place since 2019.

Rodriguez said the envisioned legal reform would result in money for “new fields, to fields where there has never been investment, and to fields where there is no infrastructure”.

Rodriguez also said funds from oil would go to workers and public services.

Oil exports are Venezuela’s main source of revenue.

Since Maduro’s abduction, Trump has claimed the US now controls Venezuela’s oil sector and has made clear that the takeover of the country’s vast oil reserves was a key goal of his military onslaught against the nation and its leader.

Addressing oil executives last week, Trump said: “You’re dealing with us directly and not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela.”

Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves and was once a major crude supplier to the US.

But Venezuela only produced about 1 percent of the world’s total crude output in 2024, according to OPEC, having been hampered by years of underinvestment, US sanctions and embargoes.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has travelled to Washington, DC, to meet with United States President Donald Trump at the White House, following the abduction of her political adversary, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Thursday’s meeting was the first time the two leaders encountered one another face-to-face.

But the visit was an unusually subdued one for Trump, who normally welcomes foreign leaders to the Oval Office for a news conference with reporters.

This time, however, Trump kept his meeting with Machado private, away from clicking camera shutters and shouted questions from reporters.

Trump has backed Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, as interim leader of the South American country, despite Machado’s claims that the opposition has a mandate to govern.

Rodriguez’s inaugural state of the union address as president coincided with Machado’s arrival at the White House, a fact that could have contributed to the low-key nature of the meeting.

“We are used to seeing the president ushering in the cameras, making comments, talking away,” Al Jazeera correspondent Mike Hanna reported as evening fell in the capital.

“But on this particular occasion, [the meeting] was held behind closed doors. In fact, we haven’t even had a formal readout from the White House of that meeting with Machado.”

Still, Machado struck an upbeat tone as she exited the White House and strolled onto Pennsylvania Avenue, where she was thronged by reporters and supporters seeking selfies.

She and Trump spent only a few hours together in the White House, as they discussed Venezuela’s future over lunch.

Machado confirmed to the media that she followed through with her plans to give Trump her Nobel Peace Prize, an honour the US president has long coveted for himself.

“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters.

As she offered Trump the prize, Machado said she recounted a historical anecdote, about an interaction between Simon Bolivar – the Venezuelan military officer who helped liberate much of South America from colonial rule – and the Marquis de Lafayette, a Revolutionary War hero in the US.

“I told him this. Listen to this. Two hundred years ago, General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington’s face,” Machado said. “Bolivar since then kept that medal for the rest of his life.”

The Nobel Committee, however, has clarified that the prize is non-transferable and cannot be shared.

Machado was announced as the recipient of the prize in October, in recognition of her efforts to advance Venezuelan democracy.

“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause,” Machado wrote on October 10. She secretly left Venezuela, where she had been living in hiding, in December to travel to Norway and collect the medal.

‘Willing to serve’

Machado remains a popular figure within Venezuela’s opposition movement, which has faced oppression and violence under Maduro’s presidency.

Human rights organisations have accused Maduro of systematically suppressing dissent and arresting opposition leaders.

As of January 11, the human rights group Foro Penal estimated there were 804 political prisoners in Venezuela, though some estimates put their population in the thousands.

Machado was formerly a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, but Maduro’s government had her removed for allegedly conspiring against the presidency.

She was considered a leading candidate for the 2024 presidential race, and during the October 2023 opposition primary, she earned more than 92 percent support.

But in January 2024, she was again disqualified from holding office, and former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez ultimately ran on behalf of the opposition coalition.

After polls closed in July 2024, the government did not publish the usual breakdown of the voting tallies, leading to widespread outcry over a lack of transparency. The opposition obtained voting tallies that appeared to show Gonzalez winning in a landslide, further fuelling the outrage.

But Maduro’s government backed his claim to a third six-year term as president.

After the US military abducted Maduro from Venezuela on January 3, it transported him to the US to face charges of narcotics trafficking.

Machado has since appeared on US television to advance the Venezuelan opposition’s claim that it has a “mandate” to take over the presidency after Maduro’s removal.

“We have a president-elect who is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, and we are ready and willing to serve our people as we have been mandated,” she told CBS News on January 7.

Dismissing Machado?

But Trump has thrown his support behind Rodriguez, whom he has described as cooperative.

“ She’s somebody that we’ve worked with very well,” Trump said at a news conference on Thursday. “I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

The US president has previously said that the US will “run” Venezuela. Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters that the Venezuelan government’s “decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America”.

Still, Rodriguez has denounced the January 3 attack on Venezuela as a violation of international law, and in Thursday’s state of the union speech, she continued to express continued allegiance to “Chavismo”, the political movement Maduro followed.

She has also criticised US threats to her country’s sovereignty.

“We know the US is a lethal nuclear power. We have seen their record in history of humanity. We know and we are not afraid to face them diplomatically through political dialogue as appropriate and resolve once and for all this historical contradiction,” Rodriguez said on Thursday.

“Brothers and sisters, deputies, regardless of political affiliation, it doesn’t matter. We have to go together as Venezuelans to defend our sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and also defend our dignity and our honour.”

She nevertheless indicated she planned to revisit Venezuela’s hydrocarbon law to allow for greater foreign investment.

Renata Segura, the director of the Latin America and Caribbean programme at the nonprofit International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that Rodriguez and her government have consistently maintained that Maduro remains the rightful leader of Venezuela.

“We should not forget that Rodriguez and many other members of the government in Caracas have been very adamant about the fact that the intervention against Maduro was illegitimate. They’ve actually demanded that he be liberated,” Segura said.

“So they haven’t done a 180-degree shift in the tone of their declarations. But it’s not like they have a lot of manoeuvring room. So they are really trying to appease Trump at this moment.”

Still, Trump has long dismissed Machado’s prospects as a replacement for Maduro or Rodriguez, saying on January 3 that she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country”.

Segura believes the Trump administration’s choice to reject Machado as the leader of Venezuela is understandable, in the name of stability.

But, she added, Machado is the clear leader of the opposition, and her coalition therefore needs to be part of the country’s government moving forward.

“It would be very illegitimate if we just had a conversation between the regime of Chavismo, now without Maduro, and the Trump administration, without those people that really represent the Venezuelan people’s feelings,” Segura said.

Jan. 15 (UPI) — Eleven Senate and House Democrats on Thursday said T1 Mobile LLC dba Trump Mobile has not delivered phones as promised and made deceptive claims about its origin.

They said the Trump Mobile T1 phone is not made in the United States and want the Federal Trade Commission to investigate potential violations of federal consumer protection laws.

The Trump Organization launched Trump Mobile in June and said the T1 phone is made in the United States on a website promoting the service, the lawmakers said in a jointly written letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson.

Trump Mobile in June said consumers could reserve a T1 phone by placing a $100 deposit, but as of January, no phones have been delivered, according to the lawmakers.

On Dec. 31, Fortune reported that Trump Mobile staff said the 43-day shutdown of the federal government caused Trump Mobile to “pause everything on the [Federal Communications Commission] side of things,” thus further delaying delivery of the mobile phone.

The claim that the phone is made in the United States also is deceptive, according to the lawmakers.

“Trump Mobile initially advertised the T1 phone as ‘made in the USA’ on its website,” the lawmakers said.

“These claims were quietly removed from the website in late June 2025, days after the phone was announced,” they said.

A review of a Trump Mobile announcement for the phone shows it is described as a “sleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best from their mobile carrier.”

The Trump Mobile website does not include any claims that the phone is made in the United States.

The website also shows T1 Mobile LLC dba Trump Mobile secured a licensing agreement to use the Trump name and trademark.

A Trump Mobile staffer earlier this week said the phone will be manufactured in the United States, NBC News reported.

The lawmakers, though, told the FTC chairman that the United States does not have any facilities capable of manufacturing the cellphone.

The letter is signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Edward Markey and Adam Schiff of California.

Also signing are Reps. Doris Matsui and Robert Garcia of California, Greg Cesar of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Maxwell Frost of Florida.

Trump Mobile did not immediately respond to an email request for comment made early Thursday evening.

Jan. 15 (Asia Today) — Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday called for “proactive and creative” diplomacy to help restart North Korea-U.S. talks, saying progress in South Korea’s ties with China and Japan should feed into planned U.S.-China talks in April and, in turn, encourage dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.

Chung made the remarks at the second meeting of the Korean Peninsula Peace Strategy Advisory Group, a consultative body of inter-Korean relations experts, held at the Inter-Korean Talks Headquarters, the Ministry of Unification said.

“To make this year the first year of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, we must build on the outcomes of the South Korea-China and South Korea-Japan summits to drive a North Korea-U.S. summit by connecting them to the U.S.-China summit in April,” Chung said, according to the ministry.

Chung also said the government would continue efforts to ease tensions and build trust between the two Koreas, citing what he described as a swift response to a recent drone incident.

Participants at the meeting suggested expanding high-level communication with neighboring countries to support peace on the Korean Peninsula. They also discussed ways to use the current situation, in which indirect communication with North Korea has been established following the drone incident, to help restore inter-Korean channels, the ministry said.

The meeting included 16 experts, including former Unification Minister Chung Sye-hyun and Kim Yeon-chul, chair of the Korea Peace Forum, the ministry said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Palestinians in Gaza have told Al Jazeera the second phase of the ceasefire won’t improve their lives. They say little will change until Israel stops bombing the Strip and allows in more aid. On Wednesday, the US announced it was launching phase two of the ceasefire.

Jan. 15 (UPI) — The driver of a private passenger vehicle died after colliding head-on with a school bus Thursday morning in Manhattan, Ill.

The crash happened at 8:32 a.m. CST as the bus was carrying 10 students and a driver, all of whom were taken to a nearby hospital out of precaution.

Manhattan Fire Protection District personnel responded to the accident scene near the intersection of Manhattan Monee Road and Kankakee Road and medically evaluated all students and the driver at the scene.

No bus passengers sustained major injuries, but the driver of the private vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene.

Reports do not indicate if the passenger vehicle carried anyone other than the driver.

The bus belongs to the Manhattan School District, and all students and the driver were released from a local hospital by 1 p.m., school district officials said.

“Our hearts are with everyone impacted by this tragic incident,” MSD Superintendent Damien Aherne said.

“We are grateful for the swift response of our first responders and our school staff, whose priority was ensuring the safety and well-being of our students,” Aherne said.

“We will continue to provide support to our students and their families during this difficult time,” he added.

An investigation into the crash and its cause was underway.

Manhattan is about 45 miles southeast of Chicago.

United States President Donald Trump announced a healthcare plan that would replace government subsidies for insurance with direct payments into health savings accounts for consumers, an idea that some experts have said would hurt lower-income Americans.

The Trump administration on Thursday called on Congress to pass legislation to codify Trump’s most-favoured-nation drug price deals and to make more medicines available for over-the-counter purchase.

“This will lower healthcare costs and increase consumer choice by strengthening price transparency, increasing competition, and reducing the need for costly and time-consuming doctor’s visits,” the White House said in a release outlining the order.

Trump’s framework, dubbed “The Great Healthcare Plan” and outlined in a White House fact sheet, includes an insurance cost-sharing reduction programme that could reduce the most common Obamacare plan premiums by more than 10 percent and replaces government subsidies for insurance with direct payments to Americans.

The White House did not provide details on how much money it planned to send to consumers to buy insurance, or whether the funds would be available to all “Obamacare” enrollees or only those with lower-tier bronze and catastrophic plans.

The idea mirrors one floated among Republican senators last year. Democrats largely rejected it, saying the accounts would not be enough to cover costs for most consumers. Currently, such accounts are used disproportionately by the wealthiest Americans, who have more income to fund them and a bigger incentive to lower their tax rate.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked at her briefing on Thursday whether the president could guarantee that, under his plan, people would be able to cover their healthcare costs.

“If this plan is put in place, every single American who has healthcare in the United States will see lower costs as a result,” she said without elaborating.

“These are common-sense actions that make up President Trump’s great healthcare plan, and they represent the most comprehensive and bold agenda to lower healthcare costs to have ever been considered by the federal government,” Leavitt also said.

The White House said that the plan would not affect people with pre-existing conditions.

The plan also targets pharmacy benefit managers and requires insurance companies to disclose the profits they take from premiums and the frequency of denials.

Companies would publish their rate and coverage comparisons on their websites in “plain English” as well as the percentage of revenues paid out to claims compared with overhead costs and profits. They would also be required to publish the percentage of claims they reject and the average wait times for routine care.

“Instead of just papering over the problems, we have gotten into this great healthcare plan, a framework that we believe will help Congress create legislation that will address the challenges that the American people have been craving,” US Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz told reporters on a White House briefing call.

The White House also did not provide a timeline for implementation, and a deeply divided Congress is unlikely to pass major healthcare legislation quickly.

Providers and insurers who accept Medicare or Medicaid money would also have to post their pricing and fees.

Obamacare looms

The announcement comes as millions of Americans face higher healthcare costs this year, with open enrolment for most federally subsidised Obamacare plans closing on Thursday.

On average, premium costs will increase to $1,904 in 2026 from $888 in 2025, according to health policy firm KFF, a far greater jump than the savings promised in the Trump plan.

Congress remains divided on whether and how to reinstate generous COVID-era tax credits that expired at the end of last year.

Retroactive expanded federal subsidies are still possible, and there is a group of bipartisan lawmakers negotiating a potential extension, but Republicans remain divided on whether they should do so.

The Trump administration wants funding to go directly to consumers using health savings accounts, Oz said, rather than to insurers, a position also adopted by Congressional Republicans who oppose extending the Obamacare subsidies.

Trump has said he may veto any legislation to extend the subsidies, and the plan makes no mention of them.

“This does not specifically address those bipartisan congressional negotiations that are going on. It does say that we have a preference that money goes to people, as opposed to insurance companies,” the White House official said.

Trump has long been dogged by his lack of a comprehensive healthcare plan as he and Republicans have sought to unwind former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Trump was thwarted during his first term in trying to repeal and replace the law.

When he ran for president in 2024, Trump said he had only “concepts of a plan” to address healthcare. His new proposal, short on many specifics, appeared to be the concept of a plan.

On Wall Street, healthcare insurance provider stocks surged on the news of the looming plan. UnitedHealthcare is up 0.8 percent in midday trading. Humana is up higher at 3.5 percent than the market open, and Oscar Health is up 6.4 percent.

Pharmaceutical stocks, on the other hand, are trending lower. Eli Lilly is down by about 3.7 percent, AbbVie tumbling 1.9 percent below the market open, and Bristol Myers -Squibb is down by 0.9 percent. Johnson and Johnson, on the other hand, does remain in positive territory at about 0.3 percent higher than the market open.

Jan. 15 (UPI) — A U.S. bankruptcy judge denied Amazon.com Inc.’s effort to block a proposed financing deal to help Saks Global Enterprises stay in business amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Judge Alfredo Perez on Wednesday night approved an initial $400 million financing lifeline to Saks after a 7.5-hour courtroom battle between Saks and several of its creditors, including Amazon.

Saks officials seek $1.75 billion to stay in business, but they will have to return to the U.S. District & Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas for further approvals.

Amazon officials and other creditors objected to the proposed bankruptcy financing plan submitted by Saks Global amid the luxury retailer’s financial woes.

Amazon in 2024 invested $475 million in preferred equity to help Saks buy luxury brand Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion, but Amazon said that investment now is worthless.

Amazon officials also said Saks did not abide by the terms of the investment, which included creating a “Saks on Amazon” account to sell goods on the Amazon retail platform.

The online storefront was to market luxury beauty and fashion goods and pay a fee for Saks-branded items, which was calculated to produce about $900 million in revenues for Amazon over eight years.

“Saks continuously failed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, and ran up additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners,” Amazon said in a court filing.

The new restructuring plan proposed by Saks and partly approved by Perez further endangers Amazon’s investment and those of other creditors by saddling Saks with more debt, Amazon’s attorneys argued.

Attorneys for Saks on Wednesday argued the luxury retailer would go out of business and be liquidated if it could not access at least some of the proposed $1.75 billion rescue loan.

Jan. 15 (UPI) — U.S. philanthropist Gilbert Butler has emerged as a major private donor shaping conservation policy in Latin America by financing the purchase and then donating six islands in Uruguay and Argentina to create the first binational park on the Uruguay River.

Butler donated the islands of Chala, Inga and Pinguino to the Uruguayan state. The islands lie on the river in Rio Negro department, an administrative division similar to a county.

Together, the three islands cover 1,270 acres and were incorporated into Uruguay’s National System of Protected Areas, known by its Spanish acronym SNAP, according to statements from the Presidency of Uruguay and the Ministry of Environment.

Uruguayan authorities described the donation as unprecedented, marking the first time the country has added land to SNAP through a direct donation of property purchased by a private person for conservation purposes.

“Nothing like this has been seen for decades,” President Yamandu Orsi said Thursday during the ceremony accepting the islands.

According to Uruguayan officials, at least two of the islands include basic public-use infrastructure, such as docks, shelters and restrooms designed for low-impact ecotourism and environmental education.

The project aims to promote restorative economies and strengthen local communities under a model based on conservation and ecological connectivity.

The Uruguay initiative is linked to a project already underway in Argentina. On the Argentine side of the river, Butler previously acquired the islands of Dolores, San Genaro and Campichuelo in Entre Rios province. Together they span about 6,425 acres and are slated to be donated to creates a provincial nature park.

Provincial authorities plan to add about 3,459 acres of public land to that core area, bringing the total protected surface to about 9,884 acres. All six islands are part of the same cross-border conservation scheme.

In a speech, Butler said his goal is to create a binational park, contending that using the land solely for eucalyptus and soybean plantations “is an ecological disaster.”

The six islands make up the project known as Green Islands and Channels of the Uruguay River, which seeks to establish a continuous transboundary ecological corridor along one of the Southern Cone’s most important freshwater basins.

The initiative focuses on protecting wetlands, riverine biodiversity and ecological connectivity, while supporting sustainable tourism.

The donation has reopened public debate in Uruguay over the ownership of river islands.

Under current regulations and legal analyses reported locally, river islands are registered parcels that may be publicly or privately owned regardless of the owner’s nationality and may be incorporated into the protected areas system even if they were previously private.

Records and local media reports show the donated islands had been privately owned since the 1990s after being transferred as part of the settlement of a commercial debt.

Previous attempts at productive use failed because of recurring floods linked to the river’s hydrological cycle.

Local authorities in Rio Negro and Entre Rios said the binational project presents coordination challenges, but agreed it could position the Uruguay River region as a regional example for shared environmental conservation.

Jan. 15 (UPI) — Argentina’s government designated branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan as terrorist organizations, the office of President Javier Milei said.

The designation is based on official reports documenting transnational illicit activities, including acts of terrorism, public calls for violent extremism, links to other terrorist organizations and their potential impact on Argentina, according to the statement.

The decision Wednesday came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump‘s administration took the same step.

According to Washington, while the movement claims to have abandoned violence, its affiliates in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon continue to promote and support terrorist activities, including backing groups such as Hamas.

U.S. officials said those structures have inspired, financed and facilitated actions by organizations considered a direct threat to the security of the United States and its allies, and that the designations aim to curb their operational and financial capacity.

Argentina’s official statement said the decision was adopted through coordination among the ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Security and Justice, as well as the Intelligence Secretariat, within the framework of Argentina’s international commitments to combat terrorism and its financing.

“With this measure, mechanisms for the prevention, early detection and punishment of terrorism and those who finance it are strengthened, so that members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies cannot operate freely,” the government said.

Milei’s administration added these Islamist groups to the Public Registry of Persons and Entities Linked to Acts of Terrorism and Its Financing, known by its Spanish acronym RePET.

RePET is an official registry that allows authorities to identify and apply legal and financial restrictions on individuals and entities linked to terrorist activities, including asset freezes and limits on operating within the financial system.

In its statement, Argentina’s presidency underscored Milei’s “unwavering commitment” to “recognizing terrorists for what they are,” and recalled that his government had already designated Hamas and Cartel de los Soles as terrorist organizations.

The Muslim Brotherhood has also been designated a terrorist organization by countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while Jordan banned the group in April last year.

Jan. 15 (UPI) — Chile’s stock market delivered its strongest performance in 32 years in 2025, emerging as the best-performing exchange in Latin America and ranking fourth globally, with returns totaling 56% in Chilean pesos.

Only Ghana’s stock market outperformed Chile, posting a gain of 79%, followed by South Korea and Zambia.

Santiago’s main benchmark, the Selective Stock Price Index, or IPSA, surpassed historic levels and closed the year at 10,481.47 points, marking its best annual performance since 1993.

Trading volumes also rose sharply, with the value of shares traded climbing 67.9% to a total of $50.87 billion.

Of the 30 companies listed on the index, 28 recorded positive returns in local currency, while all companies posted gains when measured in U.S. dollars.

The most valuable company and the one with the highest return was Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, the world’s leading nonmetallic mining company in lithium and iodine production. The firm posted a return of 74.32%.

Economic analyst Jorge Berríos, academic director of the Finance Diploma Program at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Chile, told UPI that the Chilean index posted an outstanding result consistent with the country’s macroeconomic normalization, which is projecting growth above 2%.

“Inflation has been trending downward and there have been cuts to the monetary policy rate, which ultimately makes investment portfolios more attractive,” Berríos said. “The banking sector is a key driver of the IPSA. The normalization of credit risks has made it particularly appealing. Banking continues to be a sector with a high rate of return compared to other markets.”

He also highlighted momentum in commodities, driven by elevated copper prices.

“There are expectations tied to advancing the energy transition. There is structural demand for electricity, which boosts mining activity and supports high commodity prices,” Berríos said.

Another factor cited by analysts was a reduction in political uncertainty.

Alex Fleiderman, head of Equity Sales at BTG Pactual, said the main driver of the market’s performance was strategic asset allocation ahead of the presidential election in November 2025.

“Polls consistently pointed to the arrival of a pro-market, pro-investment government,” Fleiderman said. “This scenario was confirmed in the December runoff with the election of right-wing candidate José Antonio Kast, whose economic policy expectations for the 2026-to-2030 period underpin market optimism.”

Fleiderman added that Chile’s economy proved resilient, exceeding initial GDP growth forecasts of 2.0% to reach between 2.3% and 2.4%.

“This upward revision was driven mainly by a recovery in investment during the second half of the fiscal year,” he said.

He also pointed to the approval of a tax reform aimed at increasing savings in the private pension system and a rise in business confidence.

“These factors combined strengthened corporate profitability,” Fleiderman said. “They shape a constructive outlook for 2026 and support a positive view of the market over the next four years under the Kast administration.”

Berríos agreed, noting that positive expectations are emerging in capital markets.

“There is a decline in country risk, greater stability and no visible changes that would affect the foundations of the country’s financial system,” he said. “That environment is encouraging stronger capital flows and increased investment.”

Together, he added, these conditions have helped produce “an exceptionally strong IPSA.”

Jan. 15 (UPI) — President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to stop protests in Minnesota on Thursday after an ICE agent shot another civilian.

Trump made the threat on social media hours after an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer shot a man in Minneapolis, increasing tension between agents and demonstrators.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the Insurrection Act, which many presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great state,” Trump wrote.

A statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the victim of Wednesday’s shooting was a Venezuelan immigrant who was in the United States illegally.

A U.S. president has not invoked the Insurrection Act in more than 30 years. It allows the president to send military troops to areas of civil unrest. George H. Bush used it in 1992 in response to the Los Angeles riots after four officers who were caught on camera beating Rodney King, a Black man, during a traffic stop, were acquitted.

The Insurrection Act gives military troops the authority to take actions they are normally prohibited from taking on U.S. soil, such as making arrests and performing searches

Protestors continued to film and shout down ICE agents after Wednesday’s shooting, calling for them to leave the city. Last week, ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good while she was driving away in her vehicle in Minneapolis.

State and local officials have joined the calls from protesters to remove ICE from Minneapolis. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, seeking to have the influx of federal agents removed.

Gov. Tim Walz addressed the ongoing unrest on Wednesday, saying “news reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down on our communities.”

Walz said 2,000 to 3,000 federal agents have been dispatched to Minnesota and are pulling people over indiscriminately.