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Jan. 23 (UPI) — Vice President JD Vance told March for Life participants that he understands their frustration but assured them that more progress will be made to curb abortions.

Vance addressed the 53rd annual March for Life event on Friday, telling attendees that the proverbial “elephant in the room” is that little progress has been made to rein in abortion at the federal level.

“We are going to continue to make strides over the next three years to come,” Vance said, adding that abortion is an existential matter.

“It is about whether we remain a civilization under God, or whether we will ultimately return to the paganism that has dominated the past,” Vance told march attendees.

“There is still much road ahead to travel together,” he said, as reported by PBS. “Let the record show, you have a vice president who practices what he preaches.”

The annual pro-life event drew many participants who expressed frustration that more has not been done to restrict abortion after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v Wade and left such laws up to respective states.

Vance, 41, called that decision the most important made by the Supreme Court during his lifetime.

He also cited the expansion of the federal government’s policy against providing foreign aid to organizations that support providers of abortion services.

“We believe that every country in the world has the duty to protect life,” Vance told March for Life participants.

The annual event drew tens of thousands to the nation’s capital, where they gathered on the National Mall before proceeding to the Supreme Court.

Many were dismayed that the Trump administration has not done more to follow up on the Supreme Court ruling.

“This administration has not moved when it absolutely could move,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told media on Thursday.

“This is not the direction that we were hoping for,” she added.

While the Trump administration has focused on other matters during the president’s second term in office, the abortion matter largely has been relegated to individual states.

Attack comes as the Pakistani military readies for its fight against armed groups in areas along border with Afghanistan.

A suicide bombing attack at a wedding in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least seven people, according to the police.

The bombing tore through a building housing members of a peace committee during a wedding ceremony on Friday in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police official Muhammad Adnan said on Saturday.

The committees are made up of residents and elders and supported by Islamabad as part of its efforts to counter fighters in the regions along the Afghan border.

Three people were confirmed dead on Friday. Four others, who were among those hurt in the attack, died in the hospital, Adnan added.

The suicide attack came as the Pakistani military readies for its fight against armed groups in the areas along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes, despite harsh winter conditions in the region.

No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s bombing. However, suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has carried out numerous attacks in the country in recent years.

The TTP, which operates on both sides of the Afghan border, has labelled peace committee members as traitors. The TTP’s stated goal is to replace Pakistan’s system of governance with the strict brand of their own understanding of Islamic laws.

The TTP has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, when US and NATO troops left the country after 20 years of war. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover there.

Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing the Pakistani group to plan its attacks from Afghanistan. Kabul denies the charge, saying the group’s activities are Pakistan’s domestic problem.

As Kenya prepares for its next general election, due in less than 20 months’ time, 2026 will prove to be a critical year. With local and global restraints on political violence being hollowed out at the very time when trust in the credibility of the election system is at an all-time low, serious trouble beckons unless urgent steps are taken.

Violence in Kenyan elections is rarely the product of that perennial bogeyman, tribalism. It is almost exclusively a state-generated phenomenon that requires a particular alignment of circumstances. Two matter above all else: first, whether the election itself is credible; second, whether the incumbent is running for re-election.

Since the reintroduction of multiparty politics in 1991, Kenya has had seven competitive presidential elections. It was only in four of them that significant violence was witnessed; in all four, the inevitably unpopular incumbent was running. In 2002, 2013 and 2022, when no incumbent was on the ballot, violence was comparatively muted, even where the credibility of the election itself was contested.

The lesson is clear. It is the efforts to improve the credibility of the election and to enforce institutional restraints on state actors that are the best safeguard.

Kenya has come some way in this regard since the conflagration that followed the disputed 2007 election. The 2010 constitution introduced checks on the wanton exercise of state power, most importantly an independent judiciary, which has proven a credible venue for settling election disputes. Reforms to the election system to enhance transparency, most evident in the 2022 elections, have also taken some of the sting out of the polls.

Today, however, that progress is at risk. And President William Ruto is running for re-election.

Following a long delay, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was reconstituted in July last year, albeit not without controversy following the president’s initial decision to ignore a court order stopping the appointment of commissioners following a legal challenge to their suitability.

That stained the commission’s credibility from the very start. The shambolic and violent by-elections for dozens of empty seats of senators and national assembly members, which took place in November, further damaged public confidence in the commission as an independent referee. This needs urgent addressing.

But the credibility of the election is down to more than just the IEBC. The Kenyan media has an especially important role to play. For years, out of fear of antagonising those in power, major media houses have treated the announcement of vote tallies as an official function best left to electoral bodies. That timidity has repeatedly undermined public confidence in election outcomes.

The 2022 election was a missed opportunity. Even with polling-station results publicly available, Kenyan media appeared unable – or unwilling – to independently aggregate figures and explain what the numbers were saying in real time. In 2027, the media cannot continue to ignore its responsibilities. There is time to collaborate, rebuild capacity and invest in data journalism. They should prepare to independently verify results and call the election, even when that makes power uncomfortable.

Media weakness is also increasingly being exploited through online disinformation. And the tools are becoming far more powerful. Kenya is no stranger to election manipulation in the digital age. It was one of the testing grounds for Cambridge Analytica, whose microtargeting operations during the 2013 election helped normalise data-driven psychological campaigning long before the scandal broke globally.

Today, artificial intelligence raises the stakes dramatically. AI-driven disinformation can flood platforms with synthetic content, fabricate audio and video, impersonate trusted voices, and target communities with tailored narratives at speed and scale.

In environments where trust in institutions is already thin, disinformation does not merely mislead. It can destabilise. It can delegitimise results before votes are cast, provoke panic or mobilisation based on false claims, and provide justification for repression in the name of preserving public order. A strong, capable, reliable and effective media will be crucial in mitigating such impacts.

Regional and international institutions and pressures have also been critical in containing the violent appetites of Kenyan elites, but these are now in decay. Today’s global environment makes such restraint far less likely. Across East Africa, governments are normalising repression as elections approach. In neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda, authorities have acted with impunity to suppress dissent and election protests.

And this regional shift is occurring alongside a broader collapse in global accountability. Western backing for Israel’s genocide in Gaza has accelerated the erosion of international norms, undermined institutions such as the International Criminal Court, and created a permissive environment for malevolent actors.

Given these circumstances, Kenya must focus on shoring up its internal defences. Time is running out to insist on reforms to insulate independent state institutions from political interference. Though the Kriegler Commission, set up in the aftermath of the 2007/8 election, recommended that any changes to election rules should be concluded at least two years before the polls, we are already past that deadline.

Still, 2026 presents an opportunity to rebuild the coalitions that can mobilise citizen action as a bulwark against state repression. In the 1990s, these included civil society organisations, the church and the media.

The Gen Z protests showed that Kenyan youth can also be a potent political force and it is likely that we will see them out on the streets yet again this year. The question is whether their elders will join them in standing up against state machinations.

Violence next year is not inevitable. But preventing it requires urgent action to protect the gains in electoral transparency and mobilise popular action as a shield against abuse of state power.

The clock is ticking.

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

Jan. 23 (Asia Today) — China’s youth unemployment rate remained elevated in December but declined for a fourth consecutive month, offering limited signs of improvement amid continued labor market pressure on young job seekers.

The unemployment rate for urban residents aged 16 to 24, excluding students, stood at 16.5% in December, down 0.4 percentage points from November, according to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Despite the decline, the figure remains in double digits, underscoring ongoing employment challenges.

The rate had fallen to 14.5% in June last year before rebounding sharply, peaking at 18.9% in August. It then eased to 17.7% in September, 17.3% in October and 16.9% in November, marking December as the lowest level recorded since the second half of last year.

By age group, unemployment among those aged 25 to 29 declined by 0.3 percentage points to 6.9% in December, while the rate for those aged 30 to 35 edged up 0.1 percentage points to 3.9%. China’s overall urban unemployment rate came in at 5.1%, below a government forecast of 5.5%.

Wang Pingping, director of population and employment statistics at the National Bureau of Statistics, said seasonal factors contributed to earlier increases.

“Unemployment typically rises in the first quarter due to winter conditions and the Lunar New Year holiday,” Wang said, adding that hiring activity improved after the holiday period and stabilized following graduation season in the third quarter.

China’s youth unemployment drew heightened attention after the rate reached a record 21.3% in June 2023. Authorities subsequently suspended publication of the data before resuming releases later that year using a revised methodology that excludes students enrolled in secondary and higher education.

The rate remains historically high, prompting the government to expand employment support measures. Human Resources and Social Security Minister Wang Xiaoping said recently that authorities will continue policies such as employment retention subsidies, tax and fee reductions, and lower unemployment and industrial accident insurance premiums.

However, analysts say the impact of such measures may be limited by the growing number of job seekers. China’s Ministry of Education estimates this year’s university graduate cohort will reach a record 12.7 million, with graduate numbers expected to continue rising until peaking in 2035.

As competition intensifies, increasing numbers of young people are turning to the national civil service examination, known as the Guo Kao, in pursuit of stable employment. Applications totaled 3.718 million last year, surpassing graduate school applicants for the first time in a decade.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 24 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1848, gold was discovered at John Sutter’s mill near Sacramento. The discovery touched off the great gold rush of 1849.

In 1908, the first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell, a general in the British army.

In 1916, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an income tax was constitutional.

File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

In 1939, 20 divisions of General Francisco Franco’s Fascist armies smashed through the Llobregat River defense line west of Barcelona, closing in on Spain’s most important city.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy denied that the United States had planned to provide air cover for the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, a charge made by Anti-Castro refugee leaders, including Antonio de Varona, vice president of the Cuban Revolutionary Council, but later withdrawn.

In 1984, Apple’s Macintosh computer went on sale. Price tag: $2,495.

In 1993, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black American to serve on the nation’s highest court, died of cardiac arrest at age 84.

In 2008, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned after losing a confidence vote in the Senate.

File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI

In 2011, a suicide bomb attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport international arrival gate killed 37 people and injured more than 170 others.

In 2013, a federal judge in Chicago sentenced U.S. citizen David Coleman Headley to 35 years in prison for his role in a 2008 terror attack that killed 160 people in Mumbai.

In 2018, a Michigan judge sentenced former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar to up to 175 years in prison for molesting some 168 women and girls.

File Photo by Rena Laverty/EPA-EFE

In 2024, Russian authorities said all 74 passengers on a military aircraft carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed when the plane was shot down in the southern Belgorod region of Russia. The Russian government blamed Ukrainian forces for shooting down the Ilyushin II-76 military transport, but Ukraine never fully took responsibility.

In 2025, less than a week in office, President Donald Trump fired the inspectors general from at least a dozen federal agencies. Eight of the watchdogs sued Trump, saying he violated a federal law that requires 30 days notice for such terminations. A federal judge found the president violated the law but didn’t require him to reinstate the inspectors general.

Small Business Administration Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware testifies before the Small Business Committee in Washington, D.C., on July 13, 2023. Ware was one of eight inspectors general who sued President Donald Trump for illegally firing the watchdogs. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI

A new Pentagon strategy document softens tone on traditional foes, China and Russia.

The United States military will prioritise protecting the homeland and deterring China while providing “more limited” support to allies in Europe and elsewhere, according to a Pentagon strategy document.

The 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) released on Friday marks a significant departure from past Pentagon policy, both in its emphasis on allies taking on increased burdens with less backing from Washington and its softer tone towards traditional foes, China and Russia.

“As US forces focus on homeland defense and the Indo-Pacific, our allies and partners elsewhere will take primary responsibility for their own defense with critical but more limited support from American forces,” it said.

The new document urges “respectful relations” with Beijing and describes the threat from Russia as a “persistent but manageable” one affecting NATO’s eastern members.

It makes no mention of US ally Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

The previous NDS, released under President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, described China as Washington’s most consequential challenge and said Russia posed an “acute threat”.

The Trump administration’s strategy document takes aim at the past administration for neglecting border security, saying this led to a “flood of illegal aliens” and widespread narcotics trafficking.

“Border security is national security,” and the Pentagon “will therefore prioritise efforts to seal our borders, repel forms of invasion, and deport illegal aliens,” it said.

The 2026 NDS also includes no mention of the dangers of climate change, which Biden’s administration had identified as an “emerging threat”.

Like Trump’s national security strategy, which was released last month, the NDS elevates Latin America to the top of the US agenda.

The Pentagon “will restore American military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our Homeland and our access to key terrain throughout the region,” it said.

The document mentions the “Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine”, a reference to the declaration two centuries ago that Latin America was off limits to rival powers.

Since returning to office last year, Trump has repeatedly employed the US military in Latin America, ordering a shocking raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, as well as strikes on more than 30 alleged drug-smuggling boats that have killed more than 100 people.

Trump’s administration has provided no definitive evidence that the sunken vessels were involved in drug trafficking, and international law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings, as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the US.

Jan. 23 (Asia Today) — South Korean police took 73 nationals into custody Friday after they were forcibly repatriated from Cambodia on a chartered flight over alleged involvement in large-scale online scams and other crimes.

Korean Air flight KE9690 departed Phnom Penh and landed at Incheon International Airport at about 9:41 a.m., according to officials. It was South Korea’s fourth group repatriation of criminal suspects by charter flight and the largest return from a single country.

Authorities said arrest warrants had already been issued and were executed as the suspects boarded the aircraft. Under South Korea’s Nationality Act, the interior of a national carrier is treated as Korean territory for legal purposes, allowing warrants to be served during the flight process.

The suspects were then escorted from the airport to police units in multiple jurisdictions for questioning and further investigation.

Investigators allege the group defrauded about 869 South Korean victims of roughly 48.6 billion won ($33.6 million). Seventy suspects face fraud-related allegations, including romance scams and investment chat room schemes, while three are accused of other crimes including robbery and illegal gambling, officials said.

Among those repatriated was a couple accused of running a romance scam operation that used deepfake technology to pose as fictitious personas, allegedly taking about 12 billion won ($8.3 million) from 104 victims. Authorities said the pair attempted to evade capture, including by altering their appearance, and were not included in a previous repatriation in October.

Officials also cited a suspect accused of posing as an investment expert and allegedly taking about 19.4 billion won ($13.4 million), with victims including recent graduates and retirees.

Authorities said suspects were apprehended in multiple Cambodian locations and that seven scam compounds were identified. South Korean officials also said some victims, including men in their 20s who were allegedly confined and abused at the sites, were rescued.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 23 (Asia Today) — Osaka Prefectural Police arrested six Chinese nationals on suspicion of running unlicensed taxi services for Chinese tourists by abusing permits intended for welfare taxi operations, Japanese media reported.

Investigators said the suspects used vehicles bearing green license plates similar to regular taxis to pick up Chinese travelers at Kansai International Airport and drive them to destinations in Osaka and Kyoto. Authorities allege the group earned more than 30 million yen (about $192,000) in illegal proceeds over about a year and a half.

Police said the scheme exploited Japan’s welfare taxi system, which is meant to transport patients or people with disabilities, not general passengers. Officials said the suspects used reservations and payment arrangements through Chinese social media platforms.

Police previously arrested five people by December on suspicion of violating the Road Transport Act. Authorities said the operation was tied to a nursing care service company based in Osaka’s Minami Ward. The firm’s representative director, a 43-year-old woman of Chinese descent, held a limited permit for welfare taxi service, Japanese media reported. She previously received a summary order and a 700,000 yen (about $4,500) fine for a similar alleged violation, the reports said.

In Japan, licensed taxi operators display green license plates, while private and rental vehicles use white plates. Welfare taxi services operate under a special permit allowing transport only for eligible passengers, and their licensing requirements are less stringent than those for regular taxis, authorities said.

Japanese media have reported a rise in illegal passenger transport cases in major regions. The Nikkei reported arrests for unlicensed passenger transport in the Tokyo and Kansai areas increased from 17 cases in 2022 to 33 cases in 2023. In one case cited in media reports, a driver arrested at Haneda Airport allegedly charged Chinese passengers 1,700 yuan, about 35,500 yen ($228), for a ride to Tokyo’s Ginza district.

Crackdowns in Osaka and Tokyo intensified in 2025, with police expanding monitoring of social media activity and stepping up airport patrols, Japanese outlets reported. Similar cases have also been detected in areas including Fukuoka and Yokohama, the reports said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 23 (UPI) — Two were killed and another survived a lethal kinetic strike on an alleged drug vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command announced on Friday.

Personnel with Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted the strike “on a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations” at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Southcom officials said in a news release.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the release continued.

“Two narco-terrorists were killed, and one survived the strike. Following the engagement, U.S. Southcom immediately notified [the] U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor.”

The Defense Department did not provide any more information on the strike, which was the first reported since U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores on Jan. 3.

Both were flown to New York, where they are charged with drug trafficking and related offenses in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York.

Southern Command began conducting aerial kinetic strikes on alleged drug-running vessels on Sept. 2.

It has carried out 36 strikes against an equal number of vessels that were said to be carrying potentially deadly narcotics, with many of the vessels sailing from Venezuela. At least 117 have died in the kinetic strikes.

A kinetic strike refers to the use of non-exploding munitions that rely on mass and velocity to knock out a target, according to the Department of Defense.

Transitional Presidential Council says plans to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, flouting warnings from US.

Members of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) have announced plans to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, flouting warnings from the United States against doing so.

The announcement on Friday further deepens a standoff with Washington over the leadership of the crisis-wracked Caribbean country, which has repeatedly delayed elections due to spiralling gang crime and instability.

“We are the ones who appointed ⁠Didier Fils-Aime in November 2024,” council member Leslie Voltaire said at a news conference. “We are the ones who worked with him ​for a year, and it is up to us to issue ‍a new decree naming a new prime minister, a new government and a new presidency.”

Five of the nine-member panel had voted in favour of removing Fils-Aime and replacing him within a 30-day period, several members said. However, the vote had yet to be ​published in the country’s official gazette as of late Friday, a necessary step before ‌the decision becomes legally valid.

The TPC was established in 2024 as the country’s top executive body, a response to a political crisis stretching back to the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. It quickly devolved into infighting, questions over its membership and allegations of corruption.

The council ousted Prime Minister Garry Conille just six months after being formed, selecting Fils-Aime as his replacement.

Despite being tasked with developing a framework for federal elections, the council ended up postponing a planned series of votes that would have selected a new president by February.

Instead, tiered federal elections are now expected to start in August. Meanwhile, the council’s mandate is set to dissolve on February 7.

On Friday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he had spoken to Fils-Aime and “emphasised the importance of his continued tenure as Haiti’s Prime Minister to combat terrorist gangs and stabilise the island”.

Rubio added that the TPC “must be dissolved by February 7 without corrupt actors seeking to interfere in Haiti’s path to elected governance for their own gains”.

In addition, on social media, the US embassy in Haiti issued several statements in both French and Haitian Creole, warning that the politicians could face a steep cost.

“To the corrupt politicians who support gangs and sow trouble in the country: the United States will ensure they pay a heavy price,” the statement said, though some social media users interpreted the Creole phrase “pri final” or “final price” to imply even more dire consequences.

The volley of stark statements is being seen as a reflection of US President Donald Trump’s increasingly aggressive actions in Latin America.

The heightened tensions come one day after the US embassy in Haiti warned that Washington would “regard any effort to change the composition of the government by the non-elected Transitional Presidential Council” as an “effort to undermine” Haiti’s security.

The US has not clearly articulated its issues with the council, but it had previously imposed visa restrictions on an unnamed Haitian official for “supporting gangs and other criminal organizations, and obstructing the government of Haiti’s fight against terrorist gangs designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations”.

TPC member and economist Fritz Alphonse Jean later revealed he had been the one targeted with the visa restrictions.

Jean, however, denied the US allegations and claimed the council was being pressured to acquiesce to the wishes of both the US and Canada.

The latest back-and-forth comes as more than 1.4 million Haitians remain internally displaced due to gang violence, with millions suffering from a lack of access to sufficient food as transport routes remain constricted.

Earlier this week, a United Nations report said that an estimated 8,100 people were killed in violence in the country between January and November of last year, a major uptick from 5,600 killed overall in 2024.

In a statement, Carlos Ruiz-Massieu, who leads the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), said the country had entered a “critical phase” in the push to restore democratic institutions that can properly respond to the nation’s woes.

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

Bangkok, Thailand – For Thai national Khaochat Mankong, 2026 was meant to be the biggest year of her life.

After filing the necessary paperwork with the United States embassy in Bangkok, Khaochat, 27, was poised to start a new life with her American husband in California.

Last week, Khaochat watched those plans evaporate in an instant as US President Donald Trump’s administration announced an indefinite pause on the processing of immigrant visa applications from 75 countries, including Thailand.

The US Department of State said it had suspended applications for the targetted countries because their migrants claimed welfare benefits at “unacceptable rates”.

“I’m shocked; I never thought they would interfere with permanent visas or marriage visas,” Khaochat, an English tutor in Bangkok, told Al Jazeera.

“But now everything has to be paused for who knows how many years.”

Khaochat said she had hoped to raise a family in the US and had no intention of claiming any welfare benefits.

“If they want to screen people, then test language ability, check financial accounts,” she said. “I have the language skills, I have money. Why should I be blocked from living with the person I love?”

Similar stories of punctured dreams have flooded Thai social media in recent days.

Married couples have expressed fears of being separated for the long term or having their children denied the right to stay.

Prospective migrant workers have also voiced their dismay at the changes, which have put a freeze on EB-class employment visas as well as the K-class spousal and dependent visas.

Songtham Artsomjit, 26, said he could no longer see a pathway to the US after paying a Thai agency $800 to start the paperwork for an EB-3 unskilled work visa.

“I was going to work on an assembly line making flat-bed trailers in Wisconsin,” Artsomjit told Al Jazeera, describing his plan as a hoped-for “turning point in life” that would lead to permanent residency.

“Instead, I’ve taken a job in a supermarket in Israel,” he said, adding that he was more afraid of poverty than “the risks of war there”.

While some would-be migrants are holding on to hopes that the suspension will be lifted, Trump’s pause appears to be part of a long-term strategy to severely restrict legal migration to the US.

Thailand, one of only two US treaty allies in Southeast Asia with a formal diplomatic relationship dating back to 1833, has expressed disappointment at being included on a list that includes many much poorer, conflict-afflicted countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and Myanmar.

Last week, Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, a candidate for prime minister in Thailand’s general elections next month, said he had met with US Charge D’Affairs Elizabeth J Konick to seek clarification on the suspension.

Phuangketkeow said he had queried the logic of including Thais in the freeze, given their contributions to the US economy and closeness of Washington and Bangkok’s ties, saying “these questions are not good for the relationship.”

For many Thais, the sense of injustice has been shaped by the relative success of the Thai diaspora in the US, many of whom built lucrative businesses after migrating to take up low-paid jobs in restaurants, warehouses and factories.

The median annual income of Thai-headed households in 2023 was $82,000, higher than the national average of $75,000, according to the Pew Research Center.

Once a key base in the US fight against communism and, more recently, an ally against China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, Thailand has had an increasingly strained relationship with its oldest treaty ally since Trump’s return to office.

Like other export-reliant countries in Southeast Asia, Thailand has weathered significant economic upheaval due to Trump’s tariffs.

Thai exports to the US have been subject to a 19 percent tariff since August, while talks on a comprehensive trade deal have faltered over US demands for opening the local market to its giant food producers.

“The Trump administration is not respectful of the relationship; it has a transactional worldview,” Phil Robertson, a US citizen based in Thailand and the director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates, told Al Jazeera.

Robertson called Trump’s policy “crass and cruel” and predicted that the administration would “create so many hurdles and so much red tape” that it would become impossible to migrate to the US.

Not all Thais take issue with the changes.

Noi, who lives with her American husband in Niceville, Florida, said she supported the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict welfare claims by migrants.

“Ever since the Trump administration, there have been efforts to stop using our tax dollars to support immigrants from various countries,” Noi, who holds a green card entitling her to live in the US permanently, told Al Jazeera.

“Of course, this impacts the various countries that are being banned. But people are waking up and seeing what’s been happening.”

For Khaochat, the collapse of her dreams is loaded with a bitter irony.

“My partner voted for Trump,” she said.

Firefighters check the platform at Jongno 3-ga Station on Seoul Subway Line 1 on Jan. 23 after smoke was reported from beneath an uptown-bound train, prompting passengers to evacuate. Fire officials said the smoke was suspected to have been caused by overheating brakes. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

United States President Donald Trump launched the Board of Peace on Thursday, saying it’s one of the most consequential bodies ever created in the history of the world.

This is all part of the agreement to reach a ceasefire in Gaza – after more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians in the territory.

Trump said the board will work in partnership with the United Nations to address crises far beyond Gaza.

Now, all eyes will be on what the board achieves in Gaza before dealing with other conflicts

So, will it deliver?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Faisal Al-Mudahka – Editor-in-Chief of Gulf Times

Christian Josi – Republican political strategist

Jawad Anani – Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan

Jan. 23 (UPI) — President Donald Trump insulted NATO member states by suggesting they can’t be counted on to contribute to military actions when needed, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday.

Starmer called the president’s comments “insulting and, frankly, appalling” and suggested Trump should apologize, while the prime minister addressed media on Friday.

“If I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologize,” Starmer said.

Starmer said Britain lost 457 military personnel in Afghanistan, while Canada lost 165 and Denmark 44, during the war that started Oct. 7, 2001, and ended Aug. 30, 2021.

The prime minister said Britain has a close relationship with the United States to ensure the island nation’s national security.

“It is because of that relationship that we fought alongside the Americans for our values in Afghanistan,” Starmer said.

“And it was in that context that people lost their lives or suffered terrible injuries [while] fighting for freedom, fighting with our allies for what we believe in,” he added.

Trump on Thursday accused NATO allies of shying away from fighting in Afghanistan by avoiding areas in which fighting was underway and said the United States could not count of NATO allies to help protect the United States and its territories if necessary.

He made the comments during an interview with Fox News, according to Politico.

“They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump said, adding that European nations did send troops.

“They stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he said, while suggesting they shied away from fighting.

British Defense Minister John Healey also took exception to the president’s comments.

“The UK and NATO allies answered the U.S. call,” Healy said on social media, “and more than 450 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan.

“Those British troops should be remembered for who they were: heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation.”

Healy said NATO only issued an Article 5 call to action once, and the United Kingdom responded.

NATO’s Article 5 is a commonly included military treaty agreement in which an attack on one member nation is considered an attack on all.

Such treaty provisions led to military escalation that caused World War I after the assassination of Austro-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914.

Trump also criticized British officials’ decision to cede control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius.

Jan. 23 (UPI) — The snowfall and ice from a winter storm is expected to impact much of the United States beginning Friday and has triggered thousands of flight cancellations.

Total flight cancellations within, into or out of the United States for Saturday numbered 2,179, as of Friday, flight-tracking website FlightAware reported.

American Airlines was the most-affected airline, with 583 cancellations and one delay announced, followed by Southwest, which had 497 cancellations and 7 delays on record.

American Airlines subsidiary Envoy Air had another 261 flights canceled and one delay, followed by SkyWest with 176 cancellations and one delay.

Another American Airlines subsidiary, PSA Airlines, had 136 flights cancelled, but no delays.

The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, by far, reported the most cancellations, with 595 outgoing flights, 68%, and 529 incoming flights, 61%, canceled. Two incoming flights were delayed.

Nashville International Airport was the next-most impacted, with 127 outgoing and 143 incoming flights canceled, accounting for 54% and 60% of scheduled flights, respectively. No flights were delayed there.

The storm system could affect more than 230 million of the nation’s estimated population of 349 million as it brings snow and ice to 34 states in the South, Midwest and Northeast, The Weather Channel reported.

The storm is expected to deliver snowfall totals ranging from a couple of inches to more than 2 feet in areas from the Mountain West, through the Central United States and into the Northeast over the next three days.

New England states were expected to be especially impacted by the storm system that was predicted to last from Saturday through Monday.

Icy conditions also were expected across most southern states, where freezing rain was predicted and equipment is scarce for counteracting such bad weather.

Strong and gusting winds were expected to accompany the storm system, which could cause blizzard conditions in snowy areas and drop the wind chill to -50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Jan. 23 (UPI) — Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., on Friday endorsed his former campaign manager, Adrian Boafo, to succeed him after he announced his pending retirement.

Hoyer, 86, is the longest-serving House Democrat and represented Maryland’s 5th Congressional District since winning a special election in May 1981.

Boafo, 31, seeks the Democratic Party’s nomination to replace Hoyer after the Nov. 3 general election. Maryland’s primary is scheduled for June 23.

“I’ve had the opportunity to know him for some period of time,” Hoyer told The Washington Post.

“He really knows the district,” Hoyer said. “He knows the people. He’s served the people.”

Boafo thanked Hoyer for the endorsement in a social media post.

“Thank you, Congressman Hoyer, for your service to our nation and for your support in this race,” Boafo wrote in a post on X. “We will continue to build upon your work and deliver for the people of Maryland’s 5th.”

Boafo represents Prince George’s County in the Maryland House of Delegates and formerly was a member of the Bowie City Council.

He also was a lobbyist for software developer Oracle, which was co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison.

Also seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for the seat are former Hoyer challenger Quincy Bareebe, who founded Royal Assisted Living and Royal Home Care; Alexis Solis, CEO of Empress Consulting International; and Navy veteran Terry Jackson.

The winner of the Democratic Party’s nomination has the upper hand in winning the general election. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the congressional district by 33 points during the 2024 general election for president.

Jan. 23 (UPI) — People are calling out of work, businesses are shutting down and people are avoiding spending money in Minnesota Friday as a protest of the federal agents surge in their state.

The general strike day is called ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom, and the organizers have called for people to boycott work, school and shopping. The strike calls for an immediate end to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents in the state and charges for the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good. It also demands no more funding for ICE in the next federal budget.

“It’s tense and emotional, and folks are hurting,” Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of Faith in Action, told The New York Times. He said Minnesotans are showing their “deep resilience and willingness to stand together in ways I haven’t seen folks do in a very long time.”

The day of the protest will be difficult for those braving the weather, as Minnesota is under an extreme cold warning Friday. Temperatures in the Twin Cities are expected to drop to minus 20 degrees, with wind chills of minus 41 degrees.

A march is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST in Minneapolis, and prayer vigils are planned all over the state.

The city has been under tension for weeks since the agents arrived. Good was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7. Federal prosecutors recently subpoenaed Gov. Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democratic elected officials. A Nicaraguan detainee died in ICE custody of an apparent suicide. On Thursday, a 5-year-old boy was detained with his father, and three other children were taken. Three activists were arrested after a protest during a church service. Vice President JD Vance visited the city Thursday to “restore law and order” in the city, and he blamed local officials for the “chaotic” ICE enforcement.

The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the state of Minnesota have filed a federal lawsuit to stop the federal action in their cities and state.

Minneapolis native Kimberly Chase, 64, protested the Vance speech Thursday and told The Washington Post that her niece and her classmates had talked about digging a hole on school property to hide from ICE agents if they came to their school.

“We’re being invaded at all levels of society from kids to old people,” Chase told The Post. “But it’s not working. If anything, it’s making our community tighter.”

Many local businesses in the Twin Cities were closed on Friday.

“There’s a time to stand up for things, and this is it,” Alison Kirwin, the owner of Al’s Breakfast, told The New York Times. Her restaurant in Minneapolis closed on Friday. “If it takes away from a day of our income, that is worthwhile.”

In an email on Thursday, a Department of Homeland Security official told The Times that the strike was “beyond insane.” He asked, “Why would these labor bosses not want these public safety threats out of their communities?”

“What we have experienced and are experiencing in the state of Minnesota is not normal,” said JaNaé Bates Imari, auxiliary minister at Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul, at a Jan. 13 news conference, The Post reported. “We have witnessed violence over and over again, families being ripped apart, loved ones being torn from their hospital beds, from their workplaces, from their homes.

“We cannot allow this to continue,” Bates Imari said. “If you ever wondered for yourself, when is the time that we do something different, when is the time that we stand up … the time is now.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said on X Monday that the agency had arrested more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants in Minneapolis. She provided no evidence of that number.

Christa Sarrack, president of a labor union that represents about 6,000 of Minnesota’s hospitality workers, said the one-day strike might be the largest worker action in Minnesota history. She told The Times that some of the union members’ employers had decided to close for the day, and others were allowing employees to not come to work.

“We cannot simply sit by and allow this to continue,” Sarrack said. “We must use every tool that we have to fight back.”

Some coffee shops planned to close but open their doors for people to come inside and warm up, offering free coffee and sign-making materials, The Post said. A brewery planned to offer free hot dogs. Other businesses said they would stay open to help employees who needed the wages but would donate some revenue to local nonprofits.

Philip Young admits to 48 offences committed between 2010 and 2023 ‍against ex-wife Joanne Young.

A former British town councillor has admitted to drugging and raping his ex-wife over the course of more than a decade, alongside five other men also charged with sexual offences against her.

Philip Young, 49, who served on Swindon borough council in the south of England, pleaded guilty on Friday to ​48 offences committed between 2010 and 2023 ‍against ex-wife Joanne Young, who prosecutors previously said had waived her legal right to anonymity.

Appearing at Winchester Crown Court, the former Conservative Party local politician pleaded guilty to 11 ‍counts of ⁠rape, 11 counts of administering a substance with intent to stupefy to allow sexual activity, seven counts of assault by penetration and four counts of sexual assault.

He also pleaded guilty to ‌14 counts of voyeurism, including one count which stated Young recorded his ex-wife “on no fewer than 200 occasions”, and a charge of publishing obscene articles by publishing ‌photos and images of her “on ⁠no fewer than 500 occasions”.

Five other men also appeared in the court, charged with sexual offences against Joanne Young, the Press Association news agency reported.

Norman Macksoni, 47, and Richard Wilkins, 61, both pleaded not guilty to one count of rape.

Wilkins also pleaded not guilty to one charge of assault by penetration.

Connor Sanderson Doyle, 31, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching.

Dean Hamilton, 47, is yet to enter a plea to one count of rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration.

Mohammed Hassan, 37, pleaded not guilty to sexual touching.

The five men were all granted bail and are due to stand trial on October 5, said PA.

Joanne Young, 48, was present in court with her sister and a member of witness support.

Last year, Wiltshire Police detective superintendent Geoff Smith described the case as a “complex and extensive investigation”, noting that the victim had waived her “automatic legal right to anonymity”.

The Pakistani military is forcing thousands of families to evacuate from Khyber District’s Tirah Valley ahead of a security operation it says will target Pakistani Taliban fighters who now control parts of the region. Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder filed this report.

The confrontation between the United States and Iran has entered a more volatile phase, marked by direct military strikes, heightened rhetoric and the steady erosion of long-standing restraints. From attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities to Tehran’s calibrated retaliation across the region, the risk of escalation has become tangible rather than theoretical. For Gulf states, whose security and economic stability are directly exposed to any US–Iran conflict, the implications are immediate. It is within this environment that Qatar’s diplomacy between Washington and Tehran should be understood: not as neutrality for its own sake, but as a calculated effort to contain risks that escalation would only magnify.

Periods of heightened tension between the United States and Iran have long carried consequences well beyond Washington and Tehran. Following a wave of protests inside Iran that, according to varying estimates, resulted in the deaths of several thousand people, rhetoric between Tehran and Washington has hardened markedly. This included President Trump’s threat to intervene on behalf of the protesters, a development that further heightened the urgency of diplomacy in the Gulf. The Gulf’s geography, concentrated energy infrastructure and interlinked security environment mean that even limited confrontation risks rapid regional spillover. Against this backdrop, Qatar’s approach toward Washington and Tehran has consistently prioritised de-escalation, mediation and the maintenance of political channels at moments when such channels appeared increasingly fragile.

Qatar has emerged as an effective and credible mediator at moments of acute tension between the United States and Iran, offering practical avenues that have helped prevent crises from escalating further. Drawing on its sustained relations with Tehran and its strategic partnership with Washington, Doha has maintained discreet and trusted channels that allow both sides to communicate when direct engagement becomes politically constrained. This positioning has enabled Qatar to facilitate de-escalatory outcomes that have saved face for both parties, reinforcing its role as a mediator that creates political space for restraint rather than confrontation.

This role was most visibly demonstrated in September 2023, when Qatar helped facilitate a prisoner exchange between Iran and the United States, alongside the release of frozen Iranian funds for humanitarian purposes. The process required months of indirect negotiations, careful sequencing and political reassurance on both sides. While the agreement did not signal a broader rapprochement, it underscored an important point: even amid deep hostility, diplomacy remains possible when credible mediators are available.

For Doha, such mediation is not an end in itself. It reflects a broader conviction that the Iranian nuclear issue, and US–Iran tensions more generally, cannot be sustainably managed through coercion alone. Qatar has consistently aligned itself with the view that dialogue rather than military action offers the only viable path toward containing risks and preventing escalation. This position does not imply indifference to Iranian regional behaviour or to proliferation concerns; rather, it reflects an assessment of costs, uncertainty and unintended consequences for regional security. As such, even in the aftermath of Iran’s calibrated missile strike on the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar — a Qatari military facility hosting US forces — launched in June 2025 in response to US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, Doha moved swiftly to engage both sides and contain the crisis. Through urgent outreach and established communication channels, Qatar contributed to broader efforts that helped support a fragile ceasefire that has broadly held since, underscoring both its capacity to be effective in mediation and the trust placed in Qatari diplomacy.

A military confrontation aimed at overthrowing the Iranian regime would almost certainly generate effects that extend far beyond Iran’s borders. Internally, such a scenario risks producing state collapse, fragmentation of authority and the re-politicisation of ethnic and sectarian identities within a large and highly complex society. Externally, the spillover effects could include large-scale refugee movements toward neighbouring states, including across the Gulf, as well as severe disruptions to maritime security and energy markets. Taken together, these outcomes would pose immediate challenges to Gulf states whose own stability is closely tied to regional calm.

Recent developments in the region have already altered the strategic balance. Since the October 7 attacks and the subsequent regional confrontations, Iran’s network of allied non-state actors has come under sustained pressure. Several elements of the “axis of resistance” have been weakened militarily and politically, reducing Tehran’s ability to project influence in certain theatres. At the same time, the US attacks on Iran in June 2025 have dispelled any remaining misconception about Washington’s willingness to strike Iran directly and degrade its nuclear enrichment capacity.

From a Gulf perspective, however, further escalation offers diminishing returns. Weakening Iranian regional influence does not automatically translate into regional stability, particularly if pursued through strategies that risk state collapse. For Gulf states, the priority is not the dramatic remaking of Iran’s political system, but the avoidance of chaos that would be costly, unpredictable and difficult to contain. This assessment is not limited to Doha. In recent years, Qatar’s position has increasingly converged with those of Saudi Arabia and Oman, both of which have invested in reducing tensions with Tehran through dialogue and confidence-building measures. Their efforts to communicate the risks of military escalation to the Trump administration reflected a broader regional mood, one that favours containment and engagement over confrontation. This convergence is notable given the political differences that have historically separated Gulf capitals.

Qatar’s mediation efforts offer a pathway that helps prevent regional chaos at a moment when escalation increasingly offers diminishing returns. By keeping channels open, facilitating limited agreements and discouraging maximalist strategies, Doha seeks to reduce the likelihood of miscalculation. Such efforts rarely produce dramatic breakthroughs, and they are often invisible by design. Yet their absence would likely make escalation more probable, not less.

In an increasingly polarised regional environment, the value of de-escalation is easily overlooked. It lacks the clarity of deterrence and the euphoria of military action. Still, as Qatar’s engagement between Washington and Tehran illustrates, diplomacy, however incremental and imperfect, remains one of the few tools capable of preventing crises from spiralling into wider conflict. In a region where the costs of war are shared far beyond the battlefield, that contribution should not be dismissed lightly.

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

Jan. 23 (UPI) — Mexican influencer Nicole Pardo Molina, known online as “La Nicholette,” was kidnapped in broad daylight Tuesday in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, one of the regions most affected by violence linked to organized crime.

The abduction occurred in the afternoon as the content creator exited her vehicle and was intercepted by several armed men who forced her into another car, according to authorities and local media.

The attack was captured by the security camera of her Tesla Cybertruck. Footage that quickly spread on social media shows a masked man carrying a long gun blocking her path while another individual forces the woman into a white sedan.

Following the report, the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office said it opened an investigation and activated search protocols for a disappearance under violent circumstances. In an official statement, prosecutors warned that “the victim’s physical integrity could be at risk.”

Mexican Army personnel were deployed to the area, though authorities have not reported any arrests or released official information on the influencer’s whereabouts.

Sinaloa is widely regarded as one of Mexico’s most violent states and has long been identified as a stronghold of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the country’s most powerful criminal groups. The state records high levels of homicides, kidnappings and other high-impact crimes amid internal disputes and ongoing federal security operations.

La Nicholette, 25, has more than 160,000 followers on Instagram and over 100,000 on TikTok, where she shares lifestyle content focused on business ventures and luxury vehicles. She is also active on Twitch, YouTube, Snapchat and OnlyFans.

According to reports, the influencer has ties to Phoenix, where she spends part of the year. Her public profile expanded in 2023 following the release of the corrido “La Muchacha del Salado,” performed by Grupo Arriesgado. Corridos are a traditional Mexican music genre that narrates social stories and, in recent years, has been used to portray figures linked to the drug trade.

The case has sparked concern in both Mexico and the United States, where followers and social media users are calling for progress in the investigation amid persistent violence in the country’s northwest.