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Jan. 12 (UPI) — A Venezuelan employee of the New York City Council has been detained by federal immigration officials, Council Speaker Julie Menin said Monday night, amid growing anger over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The unidentified data analyst was detained while attending a routine court appearance in Bethpage, Long Island, making him the first city council employee to be detained by the Trump administration, she said.

“This man chose to work for the council on behalf of the public, on behalf of New Yorkers, and despite every indication that he was doing everything the right way, he still found himself a victim of egregious government overreach,” she said during a Monday night press conference.

The employee, who is legally able to work in the United States until October, used his single phone call to contact the City Council Human Resources department seeking help, Menin said, demanding his release.

Menin added that the employee has been moved to a detention center that she cannot get in touch with.

“I’m an elected official running a body and I cannot contact a federal facility? What kind of accountability or transparency is that?” she said.

“That is not how our government works and that is not how our legal system is meant to work.”

Menin said she has spoken with the Department of Homeland Security to express her “extreme frustration” and demand information about why the employee was detained. The DHS confirmed to her that the employee was detained during the routine court appearance but provided no basis for his detention, she said.

U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., reiterated that there is no indication that there is anything about the employee that warranted his arrest other than that he is an immigrant from Venezuela.

Venezuela and migrants from the South American nation have been a focus of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Earlier this month, the United States abducted Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, in a military operation. He has been indicted in the United States on narcoterrorism and other drug-related charges.

Goldman told reporters that following the detention of Maduro, the DHS is reconsidering whether or not they can even deport Venezuelans back to their native country.

“Instead of finding ‘the worst of the worst,’ instead of finding people who should be deported if they’ve committed felonies, ICE is going after New York City public employees,” he said.

The DHS often states that it is targeting “the worst of the worst” with its immigration law enforcement operations.

In refuting this DHS assertion, Goldman said that instead, federal agents are targeting their neighbors, community members and New York City public employees.

“They are going after the easiest prey they can find,” he said.

In a statement, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was “outraged” by the employee’s detention.

“This is an assault on our democracy, on our city and our values,” he said.

“I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation.”

Jan. 12 (Asia Today) — SK Telecom has been the main beneficiary of KT’s decision to waive early termination fees, drawing most of the more than 210,000 subscribers who switched away from KT over the past 10 days, industry data showed Monday.

Data from the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association showed 216,203 KT users ported their numbers to other carriers or mobile virtual network operators between Dec. 31 and Saturday. Departures topped 100,000 within a week of the fee waiver taking effect, then daily switching exceeded 30,000 on Saturday, when 33,305 users left, the data showed.

SK Telecom drew about 160,000 of those switchers, or 74.2% of the total, according to the data. That implies an average inflow of more than 20,000 KT users a day during the period.

The surge has boosted competition in number portability, with carriers increasing promotions and handset subsidies. SK Telecom also offered benefits such as restoring customer tenure for returning subscribers whose accounts were canceled between April 19 and July 14, 2025, the report said.

SK Telecom has sought to rebuild subscriber counts after a large outflow last year tied to a SIM-related hacking incident. The company posted a net loss of about 730,000 mobile subscribers in 2025, while KT and LG Uplus logged net gains of about 240,000 and 260,000, respectively, the report said.

The report said SK Telecom’s third-quarter wireless revenue fell 20.5% from a year earlier to 2.124 trillion won ($1.45 billion), amid compensation and customer retention costs.

The subscriber losses also pushed SK Telecom below the 40% mobile market share level it had held for about a decade. The report cited government data showing SK Telecom had 22,405,714 mobile subscribers in October 2025, representing a 38.8% share.

Industry officials said SK Telecom is expected to secure about 200,000 to 210,000 KT switchers by Tuesday, the deadline for the fee waiver. Analysts said that would likely lift SK Telecom toward 39%, but more gains would be needed to regain 40% quickly.

Based on an industry estimate of about 57.6 million total mobile subscribers, a 40% share would amount to about 23 million subscribers, the report said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 12 (Asia Today) — Kim Jong-cheol, chairman of South Korea’s broadcasting media and communications regulator, urged the Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corporation, known as Kobako to pursue budget efficiency and business restructuring as broadcast advertising continues to weaken and spending shifts to online platforms.

Kim made the comments Monday during a public business report at the Gwacheon government complex covering affiliated institutions, including Kobaco and the Viewers’ Media Foundation.

“The decline in the broadcast advertising market is a global phenomenon,” Kim told Kobaco President Min Young-sam, adding that Kobaco’s challenges appear heavier than those facing other institutions.

A 2025 survey on broadcast and telecommunications advertising spending released by the regulator and Kobaco showed online advertising spending reached 10.1011 trillion won (about $7.8 billion) in 2024, accounting for 59% of total ad spending.

Online advertising has climbed steadily since topping 10 trillion won for the first time in 2023, with 2025 sales estimated at 10.7204 trillion won (about $8.2 billion), according to the survey.

Broadcast advertising continued to decline, falling more than 15% to 3.3898 trillion won (about $2.6 billion) in 2023 from 4.0212 trillion won (about $3.1 billion) in 2022. It slipped another 5% to 3.2191 trillion won (about $2.5 billion) in 2024, or 18.8% of total ad spending, the survey said.

Kim said Kobaco’s management performance evaluation has worsened for three consecutive years and called for introspection. He said Kobaco’s performance has fallen about 3 percentage points faster than overall broadcast advertising revenue, adding that the result is “painful” given the generally strong broadcasters Kobaco works with.

Min said deregulation is needed to help Kobaco expand into new markets, calling for legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the advertising sales agency law. He said Kobaco faces limits on entering parts of the digital advertising market and said “cross-media agencies” should be introduced so firms selling broadcast ads can also handle online and mobile advertising.

Kim said structural responses are needed but urged the corporation to focus on measures it can take on its own, including restructuring, to use this year’s budget more efficiently.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

These are the key developments from day 1,419 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Tuesday, January 13:

Fighting

• At least two people have been killed and three others injured as Russia launched attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, according to Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

• Russia also initiated a separate missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and air defence units have been deployed to repel it, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, warned residents to take cover. There were no immediate reports on casualties or damage to properties and infrastructure in the attack.

• Russian drones struck two foreign-flagged vessels, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said, the second such attack in four days on Black Sea shipping. Kuleba said the vessels were sailing under the flags of Panama and San Marino, and that one person was injured.

• Russia attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, causing blackouts that affected at least 33,500 families, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm DTEK said, describing the damage as “significant”.

• Emergency crews are struggling to restore heat and power to beleaguered Kyiv residents, more than three days after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.

• Kuleba said on Telegram that 90 percent of Kyiv’s apartment buildings have had their heating restored, leaving fewer than 500 dwellings still to be connected. But Mayor Klitschko put the number with no heating at 800, with most living on the west bank of the Dnipro River.

• Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022, a record driven by intensified hostilities along the front line and the expanded use of long-range weapons, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said. Conflict-related violence in Ukraine killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in 2025, a 31 percent rise in the number of victims from 2024, the monitor said in its monthly update.

• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said the target it hit last week with a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile was a Ukrainian aircraft repair plant in Lviv. The Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant is located near the Polish border. Russia described the target as disabled.

• At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the United States decried Russia’s use of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile, calling it an “inexplicable escalation”.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Novoboykivske in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine.

Politics and diplomacy

• In his regular nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the world has to help Iranian protesters free themselves from the oppressive government that “has brought so much evil to Ukraine and to other countries”. Iran’s government is a close ally of Russia.
• German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he and his US counterpart Marco Rubio had agreed on the importance of a transatlantic alliance to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine.
• Wadephul added that Germany and the US were committed to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which commits member states to rise to each other’s defence, should one state come under attack.
• The German foreign minister added that, at a time of “uncertainty and crises”, unity within NATO “is a clear signal to Russia that it should not try to threaten” the alliance.

• Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has called for greater pressure on Moscow. She suggested the European Union should ban companies from providing any support to Moscow’s oil and gas shipping fleet, introduce sanctions against Russian fertilisers and stop the export of luxury goods to Russia.

• Norway has announced that it is providing 340 million euros ($397m) in emergency funding to support Ukraine’s energy sector and help the government maintain critical services, as part of its aid in 2026.

• Finnish police said they lifted the seizure of a Russia-linked ship, which had been held on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecommunications cable running across the Gulf of Finland, from Helsinki to Estonia.

• The investigation into the Russia-linked ship will nevertheless continue. Some of the ship’s crew remain under a travel ban, according to the head of the investigation at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, Risto Lohi.

Economy

• A US-linked investor group won the rights to develop Ukraine’s Dobra lithium deposit in the central Kirovohrad region, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced on Telegram. The deal is seen as a test case for drawing Western capital into a front-line economy, while trying to deepen ties with Washington.

Jan. 12 (Asia Today) — The average outstanding loan balance per household borrower in South Korea exceeded 97 million won (about $75,000), the highest since related statistics began in 2012, central bank data showed Monday.

Data submitted by the Bank of Korea to ruling People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-hoon showed the average loan balance per household borrower stood at 97.21 million won (about $75,000) as of the end of the third quarter of 2025.

The per-borrower figure has risen for nine consecutive quarters since the second quarter of 2023, the data showed. It was up more than 2 million won (about $1,500) from 95.05 million won (about $73,000) a year earlier.

The increase came even as the number of borrowers fell. After edging up to 19.71 million at the end of the first quarter of 2025, the borrower count held steady in the second quarter before slipping to 19.68 million by the end of the third quarter, the lowest level since late 2020, the data showed.

Overall household lending continued to expand. Total household loan balances rose to 1,913 trillion won (about $1.47 trillion) by the end of the third quarter of 2025 after topping 1,900 trillion won (about $1.46 trillion) for the first time in the second quarter, according to the data.

By age group, the average bank loan balance for borrowers in their 40s reached a record 114.67 million won (about $88,000) at the end of the third quarter. Borrowers in their 50s averaged 93.37 million won (about $72,000) and those 30 and under averaged 76.98 million won (about $59,000), both record highs. Borrowers 60 and older averaged 76.75 million won (about $59,000), down slightly from the prior quarter, the data showed.

Average non-bank loan balances were 39.51 million won (about $30,000) for borrowers 30 and under, 48.37 million won (about $37,000) for those in their 40s, 45.15 million won (about $35,000) for those in their 50s and 55.14 million won (about $42,000) for those 60 and older.

Park said household debt burdens are weighing on consumer sentiment, citing constraints on monetary policy amid factors such as a weak won and arguing that the pressure is showing up in softer consumption and sluggish sales among the self-employed. He called for a longer-term strategy to improve financial structure and manage debt risks systematically.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 12 (UPI) — Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., filed a lawsuit Monday against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon for trying to censure and demote him.

Kelly’s suit alleges that their efforts are “unlawful and unconstitutional.”

Last week, Hegseth announced that the Defense Department is reducing Kelly’s retirement pay over comments he made in November in a video telling service members that they have the right and duty to ignore “unlawful orders.”

Hegseth alleges that the video was “seditious.”

“Six weeks ago, Sen. Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth said. “As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice.”

Last week, Hegseth said the Pentagon was working to downgrade Kelly’s military retirement rank and pay for the video.

The suit says that Hegseth is violating Kelly’s First Amendment rights and the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution, which grants immunity to lawmakers for official acts.

“It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech,” the suit said.

“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him — and this or any administration — accountable,” Kelly said in a statement on X. “His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.”

Kelly said the actions of the Pentagon could affect any retired military personnel.

“Now, Pete Hegseth wants our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and pay years or even decades after they leave the military just because he or another Secretary of Defense doesn’t like what they’ve said. That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it,” he said on X.

Five other Democratic lawmakers were in the video, but none of them retired from their service. They are: Reps. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Jason Crow of Colorado and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, along with Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.

Also named as defendants in the suit are Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and the Department of the Navy.

Jan. 12 (UPI) — A fight that broke out at a state prison in Georgia left three prisoners dead and 13 others hospitalized, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.

The violence took place Sunday and also injured a guard, though the extent of their injuries was unknown, WAGA-TV in Atlanta reported.

Sheriff Joel Cochran identified the three prisoners who died as Jimmy Lee Trammell, Ahmod Hatcher and Teddy Dwayne Jackson.

Cochran told WJBF-TV in Augusta that prisoners were fighting among themselves, sparking a larger riot at Washington County State Prison. It’s unclear what sparked the initial fight.

Corrections officials put the facility on lockdown during the incident, and the prison was deemed secure by 6 p.m.

Nearly 15,000 nurses walked off their jobs at major New York City hospitals on Monday in one of the largest health care strikes in decades. They are demanding higher pay, safer staffing levels and better security measures at hospitals. Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the nurses on a picket line.

In a video statement, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said an investigation by the Trump administration against him is a pretext to undermine the central bank’s independence. Federal investigators have opened a criminal investigation into Powell’s congressional testimony over the central bank’s renovation.

Jan. 12 (UPI) — Alphabet, Google‘s parent company, became the fourth company to reach a $4 trillion value Monday.

The company’s stock rose 2% Monday after Apple announced it chose Google’s Gemini to power its artificial intelligence features.

Nvidia and Microsoft breached the $4 trillion mark in July, and Apple crossed it in October. Alphabet passed $3 trillion in September. Since then, Apple and Microsoft have dropped below $4 trillion.

Analyst Deepak Mathivanan upgraded Alphabet’s stock on Jan. 8, CNBC reported.

“We believe the technological advantages of the Gemini assistant app — powered by Google’s ‘grounding’ assets — vs. ChatGPT (powered by Bing and partner integrations) are underappreciated,” Mathivanan wrote. Google “arguably, has the strongest footprint across several layers in the AI tech stack, and the company’s decade-long investments have enabled deep competitive moats.”

In November, Google released Ironwood, the seventh generation of its tensor processing units, a custom AI chip that rivals Nvidia. In December, Google introduced Gemini 3.

Apple and Google announced their Gemini partnership Monday in a joint statement.

“Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year,” the companies said.

“After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards,” the statement said.

Citi analysts said 70% of Google Cloud customers use its AI products.

“Google has the chip, the infrastructure capacity, and the model amid growing demand,” CNBC reported Citi said.

Jan. 12 (UPI) — Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Monday called on Congress to investigate the Department of Justice’s probe of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which she described as “an attempt at coercion” by President Donald Trump.

Powell revealed Sunday night he received a subpoena from the Justice Department threatening him with criminal charges over testimony he gave to Congress last year about the cost of renovating historic Federal Reserve buildings. He accused the Trump administration of using the testimony as a pretext to punish him and the Fed for failing to set federal interest rates based on Trump’s preferences.

In a statement Monday, Murkowski echoed Powell’s stance, saying the project cost overruns “are not unusual.”

“After speaking with Chair Powell this morning, it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion,” she said, calling for an investigation of the Justice Department.

“The stakes are too high to look the other way: If the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer.”

Murkowski said she supported Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who said Sunday that he would vote against confirming a new head of the Federal Reserve “until this legal matter is fully resolved.”

Trump has said he plans to replace Powell when his four-year term is up later this year. The president has repeatedly taken Powell to task for not cutting interest rates as frequently and by as much as he wants. Trump appointed Powell to his first four-year term in 2018, and former President Joe Biden renewed his position in 2022.

“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” Tillis said in a statement. “It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question.

In an appearance on NBC News on Sunday, Trump said he has no knowledge of the Justice Department’s plans to investigate the Federal Reserve.

“I don’t know anything about it, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings,” Trump said of Powell.

Trump threatened to sue Powell in August over the the planned renovations, citing the “horrible and grossly incompetent job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings.” The president said the cost of the renovations exceeded $3 billion, but all the project needed was a “$50 million dollar fix up.”

During a tour of the renovations in July, Powell disputed Trump’s claims that the project exceeded $3 billion, saying the estimate was closer to $2.5 billion.

Trump told NBC News that the Justice Department’s probe isn’t related to benchmark interest rates.

“No. I wouldn’t even think of doing it that way. What should pressure him is the fact that rates are far too high. That’s the only pressure he’s got,” Trump said of Powell.

“He’s hurt a lot of people. I think the public is pressuring him.”

The Sudanese army is redeploying forces to regain territory in Kordofan and Darfur from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reports from the country’s capital, Khartoum, where the government has returned for the first time since the conflict started in 2023.

Jan. 12 (UPI) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has responded harshly to public warnings issued by U.S. President Donald Trump as tensions between Havana and Washington escalated.

Trump issued an ultimatum on his social media platform saying there would be “no more oil or money” from Venezuela for Cuba and suggesting the island should “reach a deal before it is too late” — a move aimed at pressuring the Cuban government to negotiate or change course.

Díaz-Canel replied on X.

In a series of posts Sunday, the Cuban leader rejected the U.S. warnings and defended the country’s sovereignty.

“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do,” he wrote.

With that message, Díaz-Canel made clear the Cuban government will not accept external pressure or ultimatums to define its political or economic direction.

He also said the United States “has no moral authority to lecture Cuba about anything” and accused Washington of turning even human lives into a business and acting out of “rage” toward the political system chosen by the Cuban people.

Díaz-Canel said the island’s severe economic hardships are the result of “draconian measures of extreme suffocation” imposed by the United States for more than six decades and now being intensified.

He added that Cuba “does not attack anyone, it is attacked by the United States,” and said the Cuban people are prepared to defend the country “to the last drop of blood.”

Trump further escalated his rhetoric in a post on Truth Social, where he reacted positively to a joke suggesting Secretary of State Marco Rubio could become president of Cuba.

“Sounds good to me,” Trump wrote while sharing an X post by user @Cliff_Smith_1 that joked about a scenario in which “Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba.”

The Cuban response comes amid growing concern on the island over a possible interruption in Venezuelan oil supplies, which are critical for an economy already struggling with energy shortages and frequent blackouts.

Venezuela is Cuba’s largest oil supplier, but no shipments have departed Venezuelan ports for the Caribbean nation amid a strict U.S. oil blockade on the South American country, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to shipping data cited by France 24.

Although Venezuelan crude and fuel shipments to Cuba have declined in recent years, the country remained Cuba’s top supplier in 2025, exporting about 26,500 barrels a day, according to vessel tracking data and internal documents from state oil company PDVSA. That volume covered about 50% of Cuba’s oil deficit.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in a separate X post Sunday that Cuba has the right to import fuel from any supplier willing to export it.

He also denied that Cuba received financial or material compensation in exchange for providing security services to any country.

In recent weeks, Mexico has emerged as a key alternative oil supplier for Cuba, though volumes remain limited, according to shipping data.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that Mexico has not increased supply volumes but that, given recent political developments in Venezuela, the country has become an “important supplier” of crude to Cuba.

Trump’s decision to cut off that support has been widely seen as part of a broader pressure strategy against Havana, intensified after a U.S. military operation in Caracas that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Penitentiary Services Ministry says those freed had been ‘deprived of their liberty’ for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order.

At least 116 prisoners have been released in Venezuela after their arrests during the presidency of Nicolas Maduro, the government has announced, nine days after the United States abducted Maduro.

Venezuela’s Ministry of Penitentiary Services reported on Monday that the prisoners had been released “in the past few hours”. It followed a similar release a few days ago.

The ministry added that those freed had been “deprived of their liberty for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order and undermining the stability of the nation”.

Two Italian citizens were also released, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani pledged to upgrade Rome’s relations with Caracas in response.

Dozens of dual Italian-Venezuelan nationals remain in prison.

However, the Foro Penal group, a human rights organisation, contended earlier on Monday that only 41 people had been released, including 24 people freed overnight.

The release of political prisoners in Venezuela has been a long-running call of human rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures.

Human rights groups estimated there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.

The releases, which began on Thursday, came after pressure by US President Donald Trump, who stated that Washington was “in charge” of the Latin American country following the military operation on January 3 to abduct Maduro, which sparked global protests and criticism.

Maduro now faces drug-trafficking charges and is currently being held in a prison in New York.

On Saturday, Trump celebrated the release of the prisoners in what he called a “big way”.

He added that he hopes those freed “will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done”.

A papal audience

In the meantime, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado met with Pope Leo XIV during a private audience on Monday.

So far, few details have been released about the meeting.

On Friday, the pontiff called for Venezuela’s sovereignty to be protected and issued an appeal “to respect the will of the Venezuelan people and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all.”

Machado, who is currently touring Europe, is expected to meet with Trump this week after he said on January 3 that she did not have the support or respect to lead the country.

She had dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump, who deeply covets the honour himself.

The Venezuelan opposition, which has been supported by Republican and Democratic administrations in the US, had pledged to replace Maduro with one of their own.

However, after the abduction of Maduro, Trump sidestepped the group, and Vice President Delcy Rodriguez became interim president.

Jan. 12 (UPI) — The European Union published new pricing guidelines Monday that could allow the relaxation of tough import “anti-subsidy” duties on Chinese electric vehicles of up to 35.3% imposed by the 27-country economic block in October 2024.

The framework deal prescribes how Chinese EV-makers will submit “price undertaking offers” under which they commit to a minimum selling price where, if accepted, the EU will waive the anti-subsidy duties, Brussels said in a news release.

The European Commission said the guidance, the result of 15 months of negotiations with the Chinese Commerce Ministry, covered sales channels, cross-compensation and future investment in the EU — in addition to the minimum price offer — and that every submission would receive a fair hearing.

“Each price undertaking offer is subject to the same legal criteria and the European Commission will conduct each assessment in an objective and fair manner, following the principle of non-discrimination and in accordance with World Trade Organization rules,” said the commission.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry hailed the agreement as an important step forward to resolving the long-running dispute over EU claims that the Chinese government is subsidizing its EV manufacturing sector, but which Beijing insists is overblown, unwarranted and manufactured from selective data.

“The progress fully reflects the spirit of dialogue and the outcomes of consultations between China and the EU. It shows that both China and the EU have the ability and willingness to properly resolve differences through consultation.

“This is conducive not only to ensuring the healthy development of China-EU economic and trade relations, but also to safeguarding the rules-based international trade order.”

The deal could offer relief for big producers like BYD, Geely and SAIC, which were slapped with tariff rates of 17%, 18.8% and 35.3%, respectively, beginning on Oct. 30, 2024, for five years following a year-long antitrust investigation into the EV market.

Tesla was given a rate of 7.8% following a “substantiated request” that its situation receive an individual examination.

However, the guidelines set a high bar for the Chinese to surmount, requiring offers to counterbalance the negative effects of the subsidies, with the EU claiming its EV industry is taking major hits, including being priced out of competing in the net-zero marketplace, with 2.5 million jobs under imminent threat and 10.3 million indirectly.

EU member states were split over the tariffs, with only 10 voting in favor in October 2024, with the sector itself, as well as economies with very large trade relationships with China, such as Germany, skeptical and fearful of Chinese retaliation.

Back then, Beijing accused the EU of protectionism, arguing Chinese EVs were cheaper because they were simply more efficient at making them.

“China’s competitive advantage in EVs is not due to subsidies but rather to a robust supply chain, developed through intense competition,” the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU said.

Since then, the market share of Chinese-made EVs has risen steadily in Europe and around the world, with Tesla being toppled from its position as the best-selling brand by BYD sometime in 2025.

The internationally recognised government of Yemen says its forces have taken full control of the south from the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which was aligned with the Saudi-backed government until recently.

“As the president of the country and the high commander of the armed forces, I want to assure you of the recapture of Hadramout and al-Mahra,” Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), said on Saturday.

Last month, Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in support of the PLC after the STC captured the two border provinces, which Riyadh said was a threat to its national security. The STC along with the PLC fought against the Houthis, who control northwest of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.

On Friday, the STC was dissolved, and its leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, fled the country after forces loyal to the PLC took control of most of the south and eastern Yemen.

The future of the STC, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, remains uncertain amid internal divisions and the exile of its leader.

Saudi Arabia is now planning to host a conference of the main political factions from the south to shape the future of Yemen.

So what’s the latest political and security situation in Yemen, and what are the challenges in uniting Yemen?

What did the PLC chief al-Alimi say?

In his televised address on Saturday, al-Alimi called on all parties to unite ranks to restore state institutions.

He announced the formation of a Supreme Military Committee, which has been tasked with preparing military forces for the next phase of the conflict and readying them if the Houthis reject peaceful solutions.

The Yemeni leader warned armed groups to surrender their weapons and rejoin the ranks of the state, underlining “the importance of strengthening security, protecting social peace and working closely with the [governing] coalition and the international community to combat terrorism”.

He accused the Houthis of refusing to engage in dialogue and blamed the Iran-linked group for prolonging Yemen’s suffering because of their “coup against constitutional legitimacy”.

“South Yemen has for the first time in 10 years one political and military authority. No more military factions, no more divisions over ethnic and sectarian lines for the time being. There is going to be one Supreme Military Committee under the control of President Al-Alimi,” Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said, reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Rashad al-Alimi has told the Houthis that they have two options: negotiate a settlement or face repercussions, including the potential for a military offensive,” he said.

Al-Alimi is a successor of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the leader of a United Nations-backed government who was evicted by the Houthis in 2014. The Houthis insist they are the legitimate authority across Yemen and do not recognise the PLC, which was formed in 2022.

“Now the PLC, backed by Saudi Arabia, is reforming institutions, disbanding STC institutions, and they are saying that their focus in the near future would be confrontation with the Houthis,” Ahelbarra said.

The president said the issue of self-determination in southern Yemen would remain a top priority, backing a southern dialogue conference under Saudi Arabia’s sponsorship.

What’s the status of the STC?

As the Saudi-backed military campaign against STC forces intensified in Hadramout and al-Mahra provinces, the southern separatist movement announced plans to hold a referendum on independence from the north on January 2.

But days later, the southern separatist force suffered major territorial losses at the hands of the PLC forces, who expanded their control over most of southern Yemen, where the STC had sway for more than a decade. The group’s now-exiled leader remains defiant, but some of its other leaders have switched loyalties.

On Friday, STC Secretary-General Abdulrahman Jalal al-Subaihi said in a broadcast on Yemeni television that the dissolution of the group was taken to preserve peace and security in the south and in neighbouring countries.

He praised “the measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the solutions it has provided that meet the needs of the people of the South”.

However, STC spokesman Anwar al-Tamimi, who is in Abu Dhabi, rejected the announcement coming out of Saudi Arabia, calling it “ridiculous news”.

On Saturday, thousands of STC supporters poured onto the streets of Aden, the capital of anti-Houthi forces in southern Yemen.

“The STC members who joined Riyadh say they are waiting to see what happens next when it comes to details of the Riyadh conference,” Ahelbarra said, referring to talks between the PLC and STC in the Saudi capital.

“I think the consensus is that everybody is willing to talk about federal system, some sort of autonomy. But the very notion of separatism is over.

“Will people in the south willing to accept the notion of autonomy or federalism, that remains to be seen,” he said.

The disenfranchisement of southern Yemen after the region was merged with the north to form a united Yemen in 1990 has also been one of the grievances.

“Al-Alimi said these are genuine concerns which are going to be taken into account at the conference. Whether he will be able to address some of those concerns remains to be seen,” the Al Jazeera correspondent said. The date of the conference is yet to be announced.

Since its formation in 2017, the STC’s goal has been separation from the rest of Yemen. Two years later, it took control of Aden and other areas in the south from the Yemeni government.

Al-Zubaidi later joined the PLC as vice president, but he continued to nurse the ambition for a “two-state solution” as STC fighters continued to expand their control in the south, weakening the fight against the Houthis.

The current conflict was triggered after the STC forces captured Hadramout and al-Mahra, drawing the Saudi intervention.

Al-Zubaidi has since been removed from his post as a PLC member, stripped of his immunity, and charged with “high treason” and “inciting internal strife”.

The Saudi military said in a statement on Thursday that al-Zubaidi fled by boat to Somalia and then flew to Abu Dhabi.

What happened in recent weeks?

In November, a Saudi-backed umbrella group of tribes from the Hadramout region seized the PetroMasila oil facility, seeking a bigger share of oil revenues and an improvement of services for Hadramout residents.

The STC used the seizure as a pretext for advancing in Hadramout and al-Mahra. These two regions hold nearly all of Yemen’s oil reserves.

Tensions soared after Saudi-backed forces attacked the Yemeni port city of Mukalla in the south, alleging incoming shipments of arms from the UAE for the STC.

The UAE said it had been surprised by the Saudi air strikes and the shipments in question did not contain weapons and were destined for Emirati forces, not the STC.

Less than two weeks later, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government had taken control of the south and east of the country from STC forces.

Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi scholar with the Malcolm H Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, said the kingdom’s move “made it very clear” that it views Yemen’s eastern provinces, especially Hadramout, as a “core national security matter”.

Riyadh views the region as critical, Alghannam said, because of its geography and strategic oil and port assets. “From Riyadh’s view, losing influence there would be more than a local setback,” he told Al Jazeera. “It would create a major security gap. It would weaken energy resilience and open space for hostile or competing powers to position themselves directly south of the kingdom.”

The Saudi-backed governing coalition then asked the UAE to withdraw its forces from Yemen within 24 hours.

The UAE withdrew all its “counterterrorism” units from Yemen. The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said it carried out a “comprehensive assessment” of its role in Yemen and decided to end its mission there.

The episode has strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

What next?

The STC will find it hard to bounce back without military support from the UAE while many of its leaders have shown a willingness to participate in the Saudi-led dialogue.

However, it is believed to still hold influence in the region.

Abdulaziz Alghashian, an adjunct professor at Naif Arab University, said the dissolution of the STC was inevitable.

“I think the legacy of the STC has now become just too poisonous. I think the recent developments have just illustrated the fact that there is probably no goodwill for the STC to be part of a genuine political process,” Alghashian told Al Jazeera.

“The dissolution of the STC suggests clearly there is a clear restructuring of the political process within Yemen. And the political framework that Saudi Arabia is trying to work with is also being redeveloped and restructured in a manner that creates a lot of confidence for Saudi to get involved in,” he said.

But some experts said the Saudi goal of a united Yemen would be difficult to achieve due to southern divisions and the Houthis’ control of northwest Yemen.

Yousef Mawry, a journalist based in Sanaa, said Yemen’s conflict will shift from the south to the north and a showdown is expected between PLC forces and the Houthis.

He added that both sides believe in a unified Yemeni state but each side believes they are the ones who should be ruling over the affairs of both the north and the south.

“The big question: Is there a common ground that al-Alimi’s government and the Houthis can agree on?” he said.

“The Houthis believe that al-Alimi’s government is nothing but a Saudi proxy that is working on behalf of the US and Saudi interests over Yemeni land. Al-Alimi has pointed fingers at the Houthis, accusing them of being an Iranian proxy,” he told Al Jazeera.

The Saudi-led military coalition, which included the UAE, intervened in support of Hadi’s UN-recognised government in 2015 but failed to defeat the Houthis. The war ended in a deadlock with the Houthis still in control of Sanaa and the regions around it.

Saudi Arabia and the Houthis agreed to release prisoners and pledged not to attack each other’s territory. But the larger political questions remain to be resolved.

“What we are seeing is that al-Alimi is taking over full control of the south. Once they have full control, whatever political framework that works in, the Houthis are not going to accept it,” Mawry said.

There is mistrust between the two sides with the Houthis accusing the PLC of catering to the interests of foreign powers while the PLC accuses the Houthis of running Iranian propaganda. Saudi Arabia has historically maintained influence in its southern neighbour – Arab region’s poorest country. Houthis challenged Riyadh’s traditional role in the country.

Mawry fears the conflict will likely grow as both sides have drawn red lines. “They want full control of Yemen,” he said.

Police and military officials launched a joint investigation Monday to investigate North Korea‘s claims of drone incursions across the inter-Korean border.

On Saturday, the North’s military claimed that South Korea violated the North’s sovereignty by sending drones into its territory in September and on Jan. 4, but Seoul’s defense ministry denied the claim.

The joint team of some 30 police and military officials has started investigating the alleged incursions, according to the National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation.

South Korea’s military has denied sending the drones or operating the models allegedly found in the North, raising the possibility that private entities may have been behind them.

Police are reportedly prioritizing looking into past cases involving drones similar to the model unveiled by North Korea.

Experts have rejected the drones in question were operated by the military, saying they appear to use low-cost commercial parts unfit for military purposes.

Some have said the drones appear similar to a model from Chinese drone manufacturer Skywalker Technology.

Jan. 12 (UPI) — Meta has removed more than half a million social media accounts belonging to Australians under the age of 16, the company said, as it announced its efforts to comply with the Oceanian nation’s new social media age ban.

The law, introduced in late 2024, went into effect Dec. 4, requiring social media services to remove accounts held by those under the age of 16 and younger and block the creation of new accounts for youth under 16.

In the Sunday blog post, Meta, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, said that as of Dec. 11, it had removed access to almost 550,000 accounts of under 16-youth, including 330,639 on Instagram, 173,497 on Facebook and 39,916 on Threads.

Instagram, Facebook and Threads are all owned by Meta.

“Ongoing compliance with the law will be a multi-layered process that we will continue to refine, though our concerns about determining age online without an industry standard remain,” Meta said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese introduced what he described as the “world-leading” legislation to ban youth social media use in late 2024, saying the government came to the 16-year limit following consultations with experts, parents, organizations, advocacy groups and academics.

No exceptions were permitted for children already on social media or those with parental consent, making social media companies responsible for restricting children’s access to their services. No penalties are to be imposed against users, with the companies subject to hefty fines for violations.

The ban affects 10 internationally popular social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X, Reddit, YouTube, Twitch, Kick and Snap. Others, such as Bluesky, Steam and WhatsApp, could be added if they gain significantly more users or are otherwise deemed social media instead of gaming or peer-to-peer communication sites.

Meta, which has argued against the ban, said it is committed to complying with the law’s obligations, while arguing that the prohibition is linked to isolating vulnerable teens from online communities and driving some to less regulated apps and alternative parts of the Internet.

“We call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivizing all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans,” it said.

According to researchers at the University of Queensland, teenagers on social media have increased exposure to harm, social isolation, depression, anxiety and cyber-bullying.

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

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country is ready for war but also for dialogue, after US President Donald Trump said the US is considering ‘very strong options’ in response to Iran’s crackdown on antigovernment protests.

Video shows Israel carrying out back-to-back strikes on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hatta after issuing an evacuation warning, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. The UN says Israeli forces have committed over 10,000 air and ground violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon since November 2024.

President Donald Trump said the US is considering “very strong options,” including possible military action, over the deaths of protesters during unrest in Iran. Nationwide protests over economic hardship have been met with mass arrests and a security crackdown.