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Video shows Palestinian children crying in fear as their school bus is chased by Israeli settlers in an off-road vehicle in the occupied West Bank, where settlers regularly attack Palestinian civilians and property.

Jan. 26 (UPI) — The Israeli military has launched an operation in northern Gaza to retrieve the body of the last remaining hostage in the Palestinian enclave.

A total of 251 people were abducted from Israel and taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas conducted a bloody surprise attack on the Middle Eastern country.

Many of the hostages, some of whom were killed in the initial attack, were released or rescued prior to an October 2025 cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which facilitated the repatriation of all the remaining hostages aside from the 24-year-old Ran Gvili.

Gvili, a Border Police officer, was taken on Oct. 7 from Alumim, a religious kibbutz located in southern Israel, near Gaza.

In late January 2024, Israel announced that it had determined that Gvili was killed in the attack and his body taken into Gaza.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday that the “wide-scale operation” to locate Gvili was being conducted at a cemetery in northern Gaza.

The extensive search “will utilize all the intelligence available to us,” it said.

“This effort will continue as long as necessary,” the prime minister’s office continued.

“The State of Israel is determined to return Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, for a proper Jewish burial.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum accused Hamas on Sunday of subjecting Gvili’s family to “psychological torture” by denying them and the country closure.

“Ran should have returned long ago,” it said in a statement.

The IDF confirmed the search, urging the public to refrain from spreading rumors and unsubstantiated reports.

“The IDF will continue to employ all necessary efforts until Sergeant First Class Ran Gvili is returned for burial in the State of Israel,” it said.

The search was launched as Israel said it aims for a limited reopening of the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt.

Israel effectively closed the crossing, the only one that does not go through Israel, in May 2024 when Israeli soldiers took control of it in its military operation.

The Israeli government said Sunday that it will open the crossing to only pedestrians who will be subjected to “a full Israeli inspection mechanism” once Gvili’s body is returned.

The crossing opening is part of President Donald Trump‘s 20-point cease-fire plan. According to the Israeli government, its limited reopening is conditioned on the return of all living hostages and “a 100% effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages.”

A human rights lawyer and a communications student are among those freed, Caracas-based Foro Penal says.

Authorities in Venezuela have freed more than 100 people listed as political prisoners, according to a rights group, including a lawyer who was imprisoned in 2024 after visiting clients at a detention facility.

The Caracas-based Foro Penal said at least 104 prisoners were released on Sunday and that the number could rise.

It said one of its lawyers, Kennedy Tejeda, and a communications student, Juan Francisco Alvarado, were among those freed from detention.

Tejeda, a lawyer and human rights activist, had been last seen on August 2, 2024, when he visited a detention centre in Carabobo state to provide legal assistance to political prisoners, according to the NGO.

“Our dear comrade Kennedy Tejeda, lawyer, human rights defender, political prisoner in Tocorón since August 2, 2024, has been released from prison. Now back at home with his family,” Foro Penal’s executive director, Alfredo Romero, said in a statement on social media.

“We continue verifying other releases,” Romero added. “It would be ideal for the government to publish lists of releases.”

Gonzalo Himiob, Foro Penal’s vice president, said the number of releases was “non-definitive” and could increase.

Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez promised to release prisoners detained under Nicolas Maduro, in her first media briefing after the former leader’s abduction by US special forces earlier this month.

Rodriguez said the move to free hundreds of prisoners, many of whom were picked up in a crackdown on dissent following Maduro’s refusal to concede the 2024 presidential election, marked the beginning of a “new political moment” that allowed greater political and ideological diversity.

The Venezuelan government has announced the release of more than 600 prisoners in recent weeks, including Rafael Tudares Bracho, the son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez.

Rights groups have disputed the government’s figures, with Foro Penal estimating that only about half as many people have been released as claimed by the authorities.

Rodriguez said in a speech broadcast on state television last week that she would speak to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, on Monday to request the UN to confirm the figures.

Foro Penal said there were 777 political prisoners in Venezuelan jails as of January 19.

Amid rapidly accelerating international shifts, China’s foreign policy has become a complex equation. From the Middle East to Latin America, from the Asia Pacific to the Arctic Circle, Beijing is moving across a global stage with cautious pragmatism but also with an ambition to reshape centres of global influence. Intense strategic rivalry with the United States and expansionary ambitions amid renewed regional crises continue to influence its policies.

So what does this mean for the world?

The US: From rivalry to managing relations

China’s official discourse centres on the idea of “peaceful rise”, the “commitment to non-interference in internal affairs”, respect for “sovereignty and territorial integrity”, and economic partnerships based on mutual benefit. Beijing insists that relations with Washington should not slide into conflict, calling for a system of global governance built on cooperation rather than confrontation. 

Yet the geopolitical landscape reveals a wide gap between this discourse and reality. Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought back rhetorical escalation and increased geopolitical pressure. Recent US moves — such as the military intervention in Venezuela and the threat to take over Greenland — have drawn sharp condemnation from China, which saw them as a reflection of a hegemonic impulse that violates international laws and conventions.

Against this tense backdrop, China’s strategy reflects meticulous calculations that go beyond official rhetoric. In practical terms, it seeks to exploit international conditions, especially transatlantic tensions, to undermine traditional alliances.

Beijing sees the Trump administration’s erratic behaviour as an opportunity to weaken trust between Europe and the US. By presenting itself as a stable economic power that can be relied upon, China seeks to encourage European partners to question their traditional security dependence on Washington. It aims to bolster the concept of European “strategic autonomy”, diminishing transatlantic security linkage and thus weakening transatlantic solidarity in the face of Chinese long-term policies.

Iran and Syria in China’s calculations

China’s policy towards regional crises such as those in Iran and Syria is characterised by a careful blend of economic interest and geopolitical considerations. Beijing does not view its cooperation with Tehran as merely a commercial partnership; rather, it is a pillar of its broader strategy to secure energy security and diversify global trade routes under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative.

China places particular emphasis on developing overland corridors through Iran towards Eurasia, which constitute a strategic land-based alternative aimed at reducing reliance on sensitive maritime routes exposed to geopolitical risks such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Malacca, and the Suez Canal.

In Syria, China’s stance focuses on a political solution to the crisis and reconstruction rather than direct intervention. This aligns with the official principle repeatedly stated by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs: support for a “political solution by the Syrians themselves” and opposition to foreign interference.

By investing in infrastructure and providing aid, China is building political and economic influence in this vital region without entering costly military conflicts.

This pragmatic approach is also evident in China’s growing relations with Africa and Latin America, where Beijing presents itself as an alternative development partner focused on trade, infrastructure investment, diplomacy, and culture, in contrast to the Western approach that often relies on a security presence or political pressure.

Although these partnerships generate mutual economic growth, Beijing’s strategy is heightening concern in Washington and other Western capitals, which see it as an attempt to build long-term geopolitical influence that could reshape the traditional international order.

Despite the Chinese official narrative of a “peaceful rise”, Beijing’s practices in international cooperation are often viewed as a concealed platform for geopolitical competition. The Belt and Road Initiative, alongside the systematic expansion within international financial and governance institutions, reflects a clear ambition to lead an alternative global order that gradually challenges US-led rules and frameworks.

Critics argue that massive Chinese investments — even under the banner of “shared development” — create patterns of long-term strategic dependency and lay foundations for geopolitical influence in key regions.

From Africa to Central Asia and Southeast Asia, Beijing has succeeded in offering an alternative development model to the Western one, presenting itself as a partner that does not demand political reforms. In this way, it is able to gradually shape regional dynamics.

That said, China’s direct influence remains limited in peripheral areas with high geopolitical sensitivity, such as the Arctic. While some Western narratives exaggerate China’s expansionist ambitions towards Greenland, the Chinese presence there is still modest and largely exploratory. It also runs into political constraints from local powers and traditional competitors such as the US, limiting Beijing’s ability to turn economic investments into decisive strategic influence in this new arena.

Chinese foreign policy in a multipolar world

In 2026, Chinese foreign policy appears governed by a strategic paradox: it seeks to advance its geopolitical interests while avoiding direct confrontation; it aspires to shape the rules of global governance without appearing as an expansionist power; and it tends to use its soft economic tools as an alternative to hard power whenever possible.

But this delicate balance faces a difficult test in the current global context, where the US is increasingly adopting reactive policies under Trump’s leadership and where crises are escalating from Venezuela to the Middle East, and regions such as the Arctic are becoming arenas of strategic competition.

In this climate, Chinese choices — from energy partnerships to international monetary diplomacy — are widely read not as isolated measures but as purposeful moves within a broader strategy to challenge the Western order by redrawing networks of influence and economic dependence.

As international alliances continue to fluctuate and power balances shift, Chinese diplomacy will continue to be a topic of hot debate. The pivotal question is: Is Beijing’s rise paving the way for a more pluralistic and cooperative global order, or is it fuelling sharper competitive dynamics, or creating an entirely new geopolitical model? It is still too early to tell.

Jan. 25 (UPI) — A jet with eight people aboard crashed Sunday evening in Maine, prompting officials to close Bangor International Airport.

“An incident at the airport is under investigation,” Bangor International Airport said in a statement Sunday night, urging the public to avoid the travel hub at this time.

“First responders are on scene and assessing the situation.”

The Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed at about 7:45 p.m. EST Sunday as it was taking off from the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The Bangor Police Department said in a late Sunday press release that emergency crews were responding to the incident and were expected to be active at the site for several more hours.

The condition of the eight people on board was not yet known.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.

Maine and much of the Eastern United States was under a winter storm warning when the crash occurred. The National Weather Service on Sunday evening said heavy snow was forecast, with up to 16 inches expected and locally higher totals possible for the coast. the warning would be in place until early Tuesday.

“A winter storm warning for snow means severe winter weather conditions will make travel extremely dangerous,” it said.

This is a developing story.

Jan. 25 (Asia Today) — Former South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan died Sunday while on a trip to Vietnam, a government advisory body said. He was 73.

The Secretariat of the National Unification Advisory Council said Lee died in Ho Chi Minh City at 2:48 p.m. local time.

The council said Lee was hospitalized Friday after his health deteriorated during the trip. He was diagnosed with a myocardial infarction and underwent a cardiac stent procedure but did not regain consciousness, it said.

Lee was born in 1952 in Cheongyang County, South Chungcheong Province. He served seven terms in the National Assembly and held senior roles in the Democratic Party, including leadership posts in 2012 and from 2019 to 2020.

He served as education minister under the Kim Dae-jung administration and later became prime minister under President Roh Moo-hyun, described as the first former activist to hold the post.

Lee also served as a standing adviser to President Lee Jae-myung’s election strategy committee during the 21st presidential election and was appointed senior vice chairman of the National Unification Advisory Council in October, the council said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260126010011782

Jan. 24 (Asia Today) — The Trump administration said South Korea is fully capable of taking primary responsibility for deterring North Korea, under what it described as critical but more limited U.S. support, according to a newly released U.S. defense strategy.

In the National Defense Strategy issued Thursday, the administration said South Korea has both the capability and willingness to assume a leading role in deterrence given what it called a direct and clear threat from North Korea.

The document said shifting the balance of responsibility for deterrence aligns with U.S. national interests as Washington updates the posture of U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula.

The strategy stressed that deterrence against North Korea remains consistent with U.S. national security priorities, even as Washington recalibrates its role in the alliance.

Despite assessing that North Korea’s conventional forces are aging, the document warned that the risk of a North Korean invasion cannot be dismissed and said South Korea must remain vigilant.

The strategy also said North Korea retains the capability to strike targets in South Korea and Japan with nuclear weapons and poses a clear nuclear attack threat to the U.S. mainland.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260124010011427

Jan. 25 (UPI) — Gen. Zhang Youxia, who helmed China’s military under President Xi Jinping, faces allegations of sharing nuclear secrets with the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The Central Military Commission vice chairman was previously ousted alongside the Gen. Liu Zhenli, who served as the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff chief of staff.

In addition to claims that Youxia, 75, shared important information about the country’s nuclear weapons, he stands accused of creating groups that would erode Communist Party unity, and accepting bribes, the outlet said.

Youxia, who promoted Li Shangfu to his former post as Defense Minister, allegedly accepted a bribe to do so.

“Xi sought to avoid a wholesale cashiering of the top brass in the early years of the anticorruption campaign. He later realized that was impossible, and this move is the denouement of that process,” Christopher Johnson, a former CIA analyst and the head of China Strategies Group, said.

Youxia, who had been a childhood friend of Xi’s, and Zhenli were the fourth and fifth military officials to be ousted since 2024.

Clashes have erupted between police and opposition protesters in Albania’s capital over alleged corruption in the Socialist Party government, with the demonstrators demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation.

The protest, led by opposition leader and former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, drew thousands of people to a rally on Saturday evening in front of Tirana’s main government building.

Berisha, who heads the right-wing Democratic Party, urged the crowd to “unite to overthrow this government and to put in place a technical government to prepare early, free and fair elections”.

Tensions escalated when groups of protesters marched towards parliament and tried to break through police cordons, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. At least 10 officers sustained minor injuries, police said. According to Berisha, 25 protesters were arrested.

In November, a special corruption court suspended Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, a close Rama ally, over her alleged role in a public procurement corruption case. Balluku, who also serves as infrastructure and energy minister, has denied the allegations, while Rama condemned her suspension as a “brutal act of interference in the independence of the executive”.

Following a request from the government, the Constitutional Court in December temporarily reinstated Balluku pending its final ruling. A parliamentary committee is due to review on Wednesday a request from anticorruption and organised crime prosecutors to lift her immunity, which would allow her arrest.

Organised crime and corruption remain key obstacles to Albania’s ambition of joining the European Union.

Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj was arrested in February last year on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. Two other former ministers who served under Rama have also been accused of embezzlement and abuse of power. Ilir Meta, who has served as president and prime minister, was arrested in October 2024 on accusations of corruption and money laundering.

US President Donald Trump says he’s ordered an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile strike group to the Middle East as tensions soar with Iran.

Last month, the United States published a National Security Strategy that marked a clear departure from its post-Cold War policies.

This week, a Pentagon Defense Strategy followed, echoing what was revealed by the White House.

Rooted in President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach, it prioritises homeland security and influence in the Western Hemisphere.

The new strategy came as no surprise. Trump and his officials have been engaged in often-heated debates with close allies about what role the US is expected to play in their defence.

So, what’s the fallout for America’s allies around the world?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests: 

Adam Clements – US foreign policy analyst and former Pentagon official

Marina Miron – Researcher with Defence Studies Department at King’s College London

Youngshik Bong – Visiting professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University and adviser to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence

Manchester United dealt a blow to Arsenal’s title charge in English football’s Premier League as Matheus Cunha’s late stunner clinched a 3-2 win over the leaders.

Lisandro Martinez’s own goal put Arsenal ahead at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, but Bryan Mbeumo equalised before half-time.

Patrick Dorgu’s brilliant blast gave United the lead after the interval, until Mikel Merino’s late leveller looked to have rescued a point for Arsenal.

In a dramatic finish, Brazilian forward Cunha bagged the winner with an eye-catching drive three minutes from full time.

It was Arsenal’s first defeat in 13 games in all competitions since losing at Aston Villa in December. The Gunners lost at home for the first time in 18 matches in all competitions since losing to Bournemouth in May.

The Gunners are now just four points above second-placed Manchester City and third-placed Aston Villa, who both closed the gap with wins against Wolves and Newcastle, respectively, this weekend.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has not lifted a trophy since the 2020 FA Cup, and Arsenal, who have not won the title in 22 years, face a test of their nerve in the coming weeks after blowing significant leads at the top in previous title races.

United’s first win at the Emirates Stadium since December 2017 continued Michael Carrick’s impressive start to his interim reign.

Former Middlesbrough boss Carrick, hired to temporarily replace the sacked Ruben Amorim, started his tenure with a surprise 2-0 win against Manchester City last weekend.

He has already masterminded victories over the top two to lift United into fourth after Amorim’s turbulent spell in charge.

Arsenal’s relentless early pressure was rewarded in the 29th minute.

It was a shambolic goal for United to concede, starting with Dorgu’s failure to head clear from Piero Hincapie’s cross.

Bukayo Saka pounced and clipped his cross towards Martin Odegaard, and although the Arsenal captain miscued his shot, Martinez made a hash of clearing under pressure from Jurrien Timber, and the ball bounced in off the United defender’s heel.

Arsenal had not allowed a shot on target in their previous two league games.

Yet if Arsenal’s opener had come gift-wrapped by United, the Gunners returned the favour with an even more careless blunder in the 37th minute.

Martin Zubimendi’s woefully under-hit back pass was seized on by Mbeumo, who glided around Arsenal keeper David Raya to fire home.

Mbeumo’s ninth goal in all competitions since arriving from Brentford maintained the Cameroon forward’s gradual improvement in his first season with United.

Arsenal had completely lost their momentum, and Carrick’s men took full advantage five minutes after the interval.

Bruno Fernandes picked out Dorgu, and he took a touch before lashing into the top corner from 20 yards.

Arsenal appealed for a handball against Dorgu, but VAR allowed the goal to stand as a worried silence descended on the Emirates Stadium.

The 21-year-old’s second goal in successive games vindicated Carrick’s decision to move him from defence into a more attacking role.

To their credit, Arsenal refused to surrender, and they snatched an equaliser in the 84th minute.

Once again, it was an Arsenal set piece that did the damage as Lammens failed to catch Saka’s corner and Merino bundled home from close range.

However, there was a sting in the tail for Arsenal in the 87th minute as Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo teed up Cunha for a superb strike that flashed past Raya from 25 metres (27 yards).

Cunha said it was the type of game he had dreamed of playing at United.

“This is the type of match we watch on television. This is one of the best moments for me here,” he said on Premier League Productions.

“It means everything. This is the type of thing I wanted to do when I came here.”

Arsenal’s skipper Odegaard lamented some of the mistakes that knocked his team off its stride.

“It was never going to be easy. We know every game in this league is a big challenge,” he told Sky Sports.

“Now it is time to work harder than ever. We are still top of the league, so we have to keep going and bounce back straight away.”

Earlier on Sunday, Emi Buendia’s sweet strike set Aston Villa on their way to a hard-fought 2-0 Premier League win at Newcastle as they maintained their pursuit of the top two.

The Argentine’s sumptuous finish and a late header from Ollie Watkins secured victory at St James’s Park – a first on Tyneside since 2005.

Elsewhere, Estevao opened the scoring and added an assist as fourth-placed Chelsea secured a 3-1 victory over 10-man Crystal Palace and a first Premier League away win under Liam Rosenior.

Eighteen-year-old Estevao took advantage of an Eagles error to break the deadlock in the 34th minute. Then the young Brazilian teed up Joao Pedro after the restart.

Enzo Fernandez added a goal from the penalty spot just after the hour, with Palace going down to 10 men when Adam Wharton was shown a second yellow card.

Chris Richards nodded home an 88th-minute consolation for the Eagles, whose winless streak has now extended to 11 games across all competitions.

In West London, Goals from Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi eased Nottingham Forest’s relegation fears in a surprise 2-0 win at Brentford.

Jan. 25 (UPI) — An estimated 10,000 flights have been canceled and more than 600,000 people are without power as a wicked weekend winter storm rolls across the country.

Winter Storm Fern, has spread ice and heavy snow across 34 states in the last two days, having already buried areas from Arizona, Texas and other parts of the Midwest and Deep South laid into the Northeast overnight Saturday.

Forecasts on Sunday morning predicted that more snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected across a wide swath of the Eastern half of the United States, warning of extensive tree damage and widespread power outages that could potentially last for days, The Weather Channel reported.

In a three-day short-range forecast discussion, the National Weather Service said it expects heavy snow to fall in areas from the Ohio Valley to the entire Northeast and potentially “catastrophic” ice accumulation from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.

Forecasters also said there is a “slight risk” of severe thunderstorms over the Central Gulf Coast on Sunday.

Roughly 200 million people have been affected by the winter weather, which has sent wind chills into the negative 20s and sustained temperatures as much as 40 degrees below their average, NBC News reported.

Aside from the East Coast getting blanketed with snow, icing in States from Texas to Tennessee have been hardest hit by blackouts.

The Washington Post reported that officials are concerned about an area from northeast Georgia north to the Carolinas and Virginia that could be at risk for blackouts amid expected ice and snow storms over the next 24 hours.

Around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Flight Aware reported that more than 2,200 flights had been delayed and more than 10,600 flights cancelled within, into or out of the United States.

Through Monday morning, the National Weather Service has predicted up to 18 inches of snow over New England and at least half-an-inch of freezing rain in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio/Tennessee Valleys.

Areas from the Southern Plains to the Northeast will also contend with “bitterly cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills” that are expected to cause havoc on travel and infrastructure for a “prolonged” period,” the agency predicted.

Lake effect snow will also be seen moving southeast from Central Canada, while showers and severe thunderstorms could potentially menace the Central Gulf Coast, forecasters said.

In this episode of Talk to Al Jazeera, American philosopher and activist Cornel West delivers a searing critique of the United States, describing what he sees as moral collapse, democratic decay and spiritual bankruptcy. Drawing on the Black freedom struggle and his own run in the 2024 presidential election, West argues that both major parties serve entrenched power while inequality deepens at home and war crimes are enabled abroad. From Gaza to Harlem, he asks whether love, dignity and justice can still form the basis of meaningful political resistance.

From Texas to New England, the monster storm brings hazardous conditions, prompting warnings to stay off roads.

Nearly a million customers across the United States are without electricity and more than 10,000 flights have been cancelled as a monster winter storm threatens to paralyse a large part of the country with heavy snowfall and freezing rain.

The storm is forecast to sweep the eastern two-thirds ⁠of the nation on Sunday and into the week, plummeting temperatures to below freezing and causing “dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts” to linger for several days, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

As ​of 10:47 am EST (15:47 GMT) on Sunday, more than 850,000 customers were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us, with ‍at least 290,000 in Tennessee and over 100,000 each in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Other states affected included Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama.

Heavy snow was forecast from the Ohio Valley to the Northeast, while “catastrophic ice accumulation” threatened from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

“It is a unique storm in the sense that it is so widespread,” said NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli, adding that about 213 million people were under some sort of winter weather warning.

“It was affecting areas all the way from New Mexico, Texas, all the way into New England, so we are talking like a 2,000-mile [3,220km] spread.”

Calling the storm “historic”, US President Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal emergency disaster declarations as nearly 20 states and the District of Columbia declared weather emergencies.

“We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

More than 10,000 flights were cancelled on Sunday and another 8,000 have been delayed, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com. Major US airlines warned passengers ⁠to stay alert for abrupt flight changes and cancellations.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-positioned commodities, staff and search-and-rescue teams in numerous states, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, warning Americans to take precautions.

“It’s going to ‍be very, very ⁠cold. So we would encourage everybody to stock up on fuel, stock up on food, and we will get through this together,” Noem said. “We have utility crews that are working to restore that as quick as possible.”

The Department of Energy on Sunday issued ‌an emergency order to authorise grid operator PJM Interconnection to run “specified resources” in the mid-Atlantic region, regardless of limits due to state laws or environmental permits.

The NWS warned that heavy ice could cause “long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions”, including in many states less accustomed to intense winter weather.

Authorities warned of life-threatening cold that could last a week post-storm, especially in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where wind chill lows were forecast to dip to extremes under -50F (-45C). Such temperatures can cause frostbite within minutes.

The massive storm system is the result of a stretched polar vortex, an Arctic region of cold, low-pressure air that normally forms a relatively compact, circular system but sometimes morphs into a more oval shape, sending cold air spilling across a large region, in this case, North America.

Scientists say the increasing frequency of such disruptions of the polar vortex may be linked to climate change.

Medical sources in Gaza City say at least one person has been killed and 15 wounded throughout the day in Israeli attacks.

United States envoy Steve Witkoff says he and his colleague Jared Kushner have held “constructive” talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israel continues its deadly bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

In a short statement on Sunday, Witkoff said the “positive” discussion focused on “the continued progress and implementation planning for Phase 2 of President Trump’s 20-Point Plan for Gaza”, which the US and Israel are advancing in “close partnership”.

Witkoff added “broader regional issues” were also discussed in the meeting on Saturday, a likely reference to heightened tensions between the US and Iran and speculation that Washington and Tel Aviv may still yet attack Iran as they did during the 12-day June war against Tehran.

Israel, in the meantime, continues bombarding Gaza despite agreeing to a ceasefire in its genocidal war, committing near-daily violations of the October 10 agreement brokered by the US.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the sounds of Israeli gunfire and shelling coming from the eastern part of the Gaza Strip were almost non-stop on Sunday.

Medical sources at al-Shifa Hospital in the city said at least one person had been killed and 15 wounded throughout the day, Mahmoud added.

Further north, local sources in Jabalia refugee camp reported a drone attack on a medical facility that is located next to the so-called yellow line that separates Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled zones. Israeli military vehicles also unleashed heavy fire east of Jabalia and fired artillery shells in various areas of the town.

The extent of possible casualties was not immediately clear. “It’s a very difficult situation right now, and it’s unsafe for paramedics and Palestinian Civil Defence crew members to reach the area,” Mahmoud said.

At least 484 Palestinians have been killed and 1,321 others wounded in Israeli attacks since October 11, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. Israeli attacks have killed 71,657 people and wounded 171,399 others in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the ministry says.

Rafah reopening sparks hope, fear

Amid the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, the enclave’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt is expected to reopen in the coming days in both directions, the head of Gaza’s technocratic committee Ali Shaath said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

“Opening Rafah signals that Gaza is no longer ‌closed to the future and to ⁠the war,” Shaath said.

The reopening of Rafah would mark the fulfillment of a key tenet of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, which called for allowing people to flow through Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world in both directions.

Ahmed al-JoJo, a Palestinian living in Gaza, has spent more than a year separated from his fiancee after she crossed into Egypt – unknowingly departing just days before the checkpoint closed indefinitely.

“I lived through all the stages that followed her departure – alone without her, and without any motivation for life,” he told Al Jazeera.

Opening the crossing “would be a solution, but only a partial one”, he noted.

“This is the impact of the war, and what it has done to us,” al-Jojo said. “It’s separated us. The first step is for me to leave through the crossing.”

But Palestinians have previously waited out rumours of reopenings that never came to fruition. There is also widespread suspicion that Israel will use Rafah as a one-way exit that will aid in ethnic cleansing.

Israeli officials, for their part, have insisted that the full reopening be conditioned on the return of the one remaining deceased captive, as well as the disarmament of Hamas.

The United States no longer views China as a top security priority, according to the Pentagon’s 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS), as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to focus on the Western Hemisphere in a break from a decade of foreign policy that saw Beijing as the biggest threat to US security and economic interests.

The strategy document says US allies and partners such as South Korea “must shoulder their fair share of the burden of our collective defense”. This is in line with Trump’s rhetoric calling on US allies in Europe and the Asia Pacific to step up and boost their defences to counter security threats from Russia and North Korea.

Released late on Friday, the 34-page Department of Defense blueprint comes weeks after the announcement of Trump’s National Security Strategy, which seeks to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” by reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine, a 19th-century US policy opposed to European colonisation and interference in the Americas.

So what’s new in the NDS? And how will it impact US allies in the Asia Pacific?

What’s in Trump’s National Defense Strategy?

The major shift in the NDS lies in the shifting approach of the US Defense Department, which considers security of the “homeland and Western Hemisphere” its primary concern.

The document noted that the US military would be guided by four central priorities: defend the homeland, push allies around the world away from reliance on the US military, strengthen defence industrial bases and deter China as opposed to a policy of containment.

The Pentagon document said relations with China will now be approached through “strength, not confrontation”.

“It is neither America’s duty nor in our nation’s interest to act everywhere on our own, nor will we make up for allied security shortfalls from their leaders’ own irresponsible choices,” the document said.

Instead, the US would prioritise “threats to Americans’ interests”, it said.

The Pentagon said it would provide “military and commercial access” to key locations, such as Greenland, and construct the president’s “Golden Dome” missile defence system for North America.

Trump’s threat to take over Greenland has roiled transatlantic ties while the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 has sent shockwaves across the world and raised questions about the undermining of international law. Trump has justified US actions in Venezuela as necessary to secure US security and economic interests.

The unclassified version of the NDS, which is released every four years, is uncharacteristically laden with photos of the defence secretary and president and repeatedly targets the administration of former President Joe Biden.

Under Biden, the Pentagon described “revisionist powers” like China and Russia as the “central challenge” to US security.

The NDS followed the release in December of the National Security Strategy, which argued that Europe is facing civilisational collapse and did not cast Russia as a threat to US interests.

The NDS noted that Germany’s economy dwarfs Russia’s, arguing that, therefore, Washington’s NATO allies are “strongly positioned to take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense, with critical but more limited US support”.

The strategy blueprint noted that this includes taking the lead in supporting Ukraine’s defence.

The document also addressed the question of Iran, repeating the US position that Tehran cannot develop nuclear weapons. It also described Israel as a “model ally”. “And we have an opportunity now to further empower it to defend itself and promote our shared interests, building on President Trump’s historic efforts to secure peace in the Middle East,” it said.

What’s the impact on US allies?

First, Europe is pushed further down on Washington’s list of priorities and has been told to shoulder more responsibility for its own defence. Many NATO allies had already increased their defence spending and offered to provide security guarantees to Ukraine against Russian threats.

For South Korea and Japan, the US Defense Department recognised the “direct military threat” from North Korea, led by Kim Jong Un, and noted that Pyongyang’s “nuclear forces are increasingly capable of threatening the US Homeland”.

About 28,500 US soldiers are stationed in South Korea as part of a defence treaty to deter the North Korean military threat. Seoul has raised its defence budget by 7.5 percent for this year after pressure from Trump to share more of the defence burden.

The NDS noted that South Korea “is capable of taking primary responsibility for deterring North Korea, with critical but more limited US support”, which could result in a reduction of US forces on the Korean Peninsula. “This shift in the balance of responsibility is consistent with America’s interest in updating US force posture on the Korean Peninsula,” the document said.

Harsh Pant, a geopolitical analyst based in New Delhi, said the defence strategy is line with the Trump administration’s push to get allies to take control of their own security.

“The Trump administration has been advocating that the relationship that they see now in terms of security cooperation with their allies is one where allies will have to bear a heavier burden and pay their share,” Pant told Al Jazeera.

“America’s allies in the Indo-Pacific will have to be much more cognisant of their own role in shaping the regional security architecture. America will be there, and it will continue to have an overarching presence, but it won’t foot the bill in ways that it has done in the past,” said Pant, who is the vice president of the Observer Research Foundation think tank.

North Korea routinely criticises the US military presence in South Korea and their joint military drills, which the allies say are defensive but which Pyongyang calls dress rehearsals for an invasion.

Seoul’s Ministry of National Defence said on Saturday that the US forces based in the country are the “core” of the alliance, adding: “We will be cooperating closely with the US to continue developing it in that direction.”

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said: “It is inconceivable that South Korea – which spends 1.4 times North Korea’s gross domestic product on defence and possesses the world’s fifth largest military – cannot defend itself. Self-reliant national defence is the most fundamental principle amid an increasingly unstable international environment.”

Lee made the comments after visiting China this month in an effort to improve ties with the country, which is Seoul’s largest economic partner, its top destination for exports and a primary source of its imports. Seoul wants to cultivate better ties with Beijing, which wields influence over North Korea and its leader.

What about Taiwan?

When the previous NDS was unveiled under Biden in 2022, it said the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security was China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive endeavor to refashion the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to suit its interests and authoritarian preferences”. A part of that strategy, Washington said at the time, was Beijing’s ambitions concerning Taiwan.

The Pentagon said four years ago that it “will support Taiwan’s asymmetric self-defense commensurate with the evolving [Chinese] threat and consistent with our one China policy”.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has threatened to take it by force if necessary. In a New Year’s address, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to achieve the “reunification” of China and Taiwan, calling Beijing’s long-held goal “unstoppable”. Chinese forces have carried out wargames in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the two.

In this year’s NDS, the US Defense Department does not mention Taiwan by name.

“The American people’s security, freedom, and prosperity are …  directly linked to our ability to trade and engage from a position of strength in the Indo-Pacific,” the document said, adding that the Defense Department would “maintain a favourable balance of military power in the Indo-Pacific”, which it called “the world’s economic center of gravity”, to deter Chinese threats.

It said the US does not seek to dominate, humiliate or strangle China but “to ensure that neither China nor anyone else can dominate us or our allies”. Instead, the US wants “a decent peace, on terms favourable to Americans but that China can also accept and live under”, the blueprint said, adding that, therefore, the US would deter China by “strength, not confrontation”.

“We will erect a strong denial defense along the First Island Chain (FIC),” the NDS said, referring to the first chain of islands off the East Asian coast. “We will also urge and enable key regional allies and partners to do more for our collective defense.”

Pant said it would be a mistake on the part of China “to read this as America leaving its allies”. He added that “there is an undercurrent [in Trump’s foreign policy] of how America wants to see a stable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific where China is not the dominant force.”

“And I think, therefore, for China, if it reads this as a weakening of American commitment to its allies, that would not really be in consonance with the spirit of this defence strategy.”

Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the game as Arsenal and Man United renew their rivalry.

Myanmar’s final stage of its disputed general election is under way despite the ongoing civil war. Al Jazeera speaks to rebel fighters who reject the process as illegitimate, while the UN is urging the world not to recognise the results.

Aryna Sabalenka has extended her reign ‌as tiebreak queen to book a fourth successive appearance in the Australian Open quarterfinals before Carlos Alcaraz reached the ‍last eight with a Tommy ‍Paul takedown.

Third-seeded Coco Gauff also advanced to her third quarterfinals in a row on Sunday with a pulsating 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over crafty Czech Karolina Muchova in a late-afternoon match at Margaret Court Arena.

The day’s biggest upset was veteran Daniil Medvedev’s straight-sets exit at the hands of Learner Tien.

A day after blistering heat caused mayhem and meltdowns at Melbourne Park, normal service resumed as a cool change brought relief for players, ⁠fans and tournament schedulers.

Two-time champion and title favourite Sabalenka was first out, seeing off Canada’s 19-year-old talent Victoria Mboko 6-1, ​7-6(1) in a match of two halves.

The Belarusian was at her irrepressible best as she crushed the teen ‍in a 31-minute opening set and raced to a 4-1 lead in the second before Mboko produced a thrilling fightback.

Breaking Sabalenka twice on the way to a 6-5 lead, Mboko then hit a brick wall as the Belarusian raised her game to notch a 20th successive tiebreak win at Grand Slams.

“It’s incredible ‍to see these kids ⁠coming up on tour,” said world number one Sabalenka, who has now booked 13 successive Grand Slam quarterfinals.

“She pushed me really hard today.”

Having taken down one young gun, Sabalenka gets a shot at another in the quarters against 18-year-old American Iva Jovic, who thrashed Kazakh veteran Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 6-1 at John Cain Arena, two days after dumping out seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini.

Jovic is the youngest player to reach the women’s quarterfinals at the Australian Open without dropping a set since Venus Williams in 1998.

The men’s tournament has seen few surprises of the magnitude of Mboko and Jovic with the last 16 shut out by seeded players for the first time at any Grand Slam in the professional era.

Top-seeded Alcaraz did his bit ​in preserving the status quo despite facing arguably his toughest test of this tournament against 19th-seeded ‌Paul, a semifinalist in 2023.

For all of Paul’s credentials, Alcaraz appeared in cruise control in a 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-5 win in the afternoon sun at Rod Laver Arena.

Once a stubborn matchup for Alcaraz, Paul has now lost on three Grand Slam surfaces to the Spaniard after last year’s quarterfinal thrashing at the French Open ‌and his 2024 loss at Wimbledon.

“I guess the way that I would describe it is, you know, he kind of, like, suffocates you in a way,” Paul said of Alcaraz.

“He makes you feel ‌like you have no time.”

Two-time Grand Slam champion Gauff saw three match points slip through her fingers before prevailing in a proper scrap against 19th-seeded Muchova, a former semifinalist.

Gauff emerged the winner with a 6-1, 3-6, ‍6-3 scoreline.

“She definitely elevated her game, and I thought I was ‌sometimes a bit passive,” said Gauff, who will meet the winner of the match between Elina Svitolina and Mirra Andreeva in the quarters.

“I am really happy to get through this one today.

“I think today I didn’t panic. … I knew I just had to capitalise on those chances in the ‍third set, and I did that.”

Later in the day, last ‌year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev stayed on track in his bid for ‍an elusive maiden Grand ‍Slam title, beating Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.

The 28-year-old German has lost all three Grand Slam title clashes he has contested, including last year’s final to Jannik Sinner at ⁠Melbourne Park, and has flown under the radar this time as he seeks another opportunity.

“I’m ​very happy with the match and the performance. Really happy to be ‍back in the quarterfinals,” Zverev said on court, dodging a question on whether he is playing his best tennis.

“I don’t want to jinx it. I’ll keep my mouth shut. But you have to play at ‍a high level ⁠to reach the quarterfinals. I hope to continue the same way.”

Zverev will face American Tien, who overcame a nosebleed ‍in the ‍opening set to school Medvedev 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 in a late session.

Tien ‍upset Medvedev in the second round at the Australian Open last year in an epic five-setter that lasted ‍nearly five ⁠hours, but this time, he wrapped up the contest in just an hour and 42 minutes on Margaret Court Arena.

Tien took a medical timeout 10 minutes into the fourth-round encounter as ​he stuffed tissues up his ‌nose, but that did little to stop his dominance on court as he left Medvedev looking utterly lost ‌on numerous rallies.

Medvedev had said he did not like playing ‌Tien after a trilogy of ⁠matches that went the distance last year, and the 20-year-old proved him right with a clinical performance ‌that included 33 winners.

Syrians in the northeast of the country have welcomed an extended ceasefire of 15 more days between the military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a day after its announcement.

Government troops have seized large swaths of northern and eastern territory in recent weeks from the SDF in a rapid turn of events that has consolidated President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s rule, as Syria seeks internal stability and secures the external lifeline of reintegration into the international fold and the economic revival that comes with it. The eruption of fighting has rocked a nation trying to recover from nearly 14 years of ruinous civil war.

The truce extension has offered a respite amid mounting tensions as the government’s army closed in on the last SDF strongholds last week. Al-Sharaa abruptly announced the ceasefire on Saturday, giving the SDF until that night to lay down arms and come up with a plan to integrate with the army or to resume fighting.

The extension gives the SDF more time for such a plan.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Raqqa, said the ceasefire extension has been received positively in the region. “The news certainly lifted the mood of the residents here in Raqqa,” he said.

He added that locals said they want long-term stability with schools, which “have not been operational in a meaningful manner in a decade”, reopening in the region.

Basravi said the government aims to use the coming two weeks to “cement a long-term ceasefire and focus on reconstruction efforts”.

Extension after truce expired

An hour before midnight – hours after the four-day truce expired – the Defence Ministry announced that its forces would cease military operations for a further 15 days to support an ongoing US operation to transfer ISIL (ISIS) detainees from Syria to Iraq.

“The extension of the ceasefire comes in support of the American operation to transfer Islamic State detainees from SDF prisons to Iraq,” the statement said.

The SDF confirmed the extension, saying it was reached “through international mediation, while dialogue with Damascus continues”.

“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” it said in a statement.

Al Jazeera’s Basravi said people have been celebrating not only the extended truce but also the release of minors from al-Aqtan prison, among other people, held imprisoned on unjust charges, according to locals.

“So, the Syrian administration here is going through all of those case logs and looking for anyone who is underage or unjustly accused,” Basravi said. “They are separating dangerous detainees, particularly the ISIL ones, from everyone else.”

The Kurdish authorities, who previously managed al-Aqtan prison, said in a statement on Saturday that a section of it hosted juveniles “who were involved in crimes” as well as “others, who had fallen victim to recruitment and exploitation by ISIS”.

“Due to security circumstances, the Prisons Administration transferred these juveniles approximately three months ago from the juvenile detention centre to al-Aqtan Prison,” it said, adding that they received special treatment in accordance with international standards during their time there.

Fraught Syria government-SDF talks

Al-Sharaa, whose forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive in late 2024, has promised to bring all of Syria under state control, including SDF-held areas in the northeast.

But Kurdish authorities, who have run autonomous civilian and military institutions there for the last decade, have resisted joining with state and military institutions.

After a yearend deadline for the merger passed with little progress, Syrian troops launched the offensive this month.

They swiftly captured two key Arab-majority provinces from the SDF, bringing key oilfields, hydroelectric dams and some facilities holding ISIL fighters and affiliated civilians under government control.

ISIL swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, taking over vast swaths of both countries and declaring Raqqa its de facto capital, committing massacres and other heinous atrocities before ultimately being vanquished by the SDF and a United States-led coalition.

There have been concerns of a regional ISIL resurgence, especially in Syria, where the group has carried out deadly attacks on Syrian and US forces.

Protesters have taken to the streets in Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, after a United States Border Patrol agent killed a US citizen, heightening tensions in a city already shaken by a deadly shooting just weeks earlier of a mother of three.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara told reporters that a 37-year-old man, a Minneapolis resident, died in hospital on Saturday after being shot multiple times.

Family members identified him as Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse who had previously protested against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city.

After the shooting, an angry crowd gathered, and protesters clashed with federal officers, who wielded batons and deployed flashbang grenades.

The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police at the direction of Governor Tim Walz, officials said. Guard troops were sent to the site of the shooting and to a federal building where officers have been facing off with demonstrators on a daily basis.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers had been conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when they tried to disarm him.

In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon afterwards, Pretti is seen holding a mobile phone, but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.

Pretti was shot about 1 mile (1.6km) from the spot where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on January 7, which led to widespread protests.