foreign

Iranian authorities have been increasingly clear that they believe foreign countries are behind the unrest sweeping the country – and are involved in fomenting unrest on the ground.

On Monday, President Masoud Pezeshkian shifted focus away from Iran’s stuttering economy and suppression of dissent and towards his country’s longstanding geopolitical adversaries, Israel and the United States.

Speaking on state broadcaster IRIB, Pezeshkian claimed that “the same people that struck this country” during Israel’s 12-day war last June were now “trying to escalate these unrests with regard to the economic discussion”.

“They have trained some people inside and outside the country; they have brought in some terrorists from outside,” he said, alleging that those responsible had attacked a bazaar in the northern city of Rasht and set “mosques on fire”.

The prospect of direct foreign intervention in support of Iran’s protesters appears to be growing daily, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly signalling a readiness to attack.

In Israel, far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu told Army Radio last week, “When we attacked in Iran during ‘Rising Lion’ [Israel’s June attack on Iran], we were on its soil and knew how to lay the groundwork for a strike. I can assure you that we have some of our people operating there right now,” stopping short of claiming that Israeli agents were seeking regime change.

Writing on social media earlier this month, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is also a former director of the CIA, did acknowledge the presence of Israeli agents operating on the ground in Iran, wishing “Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them.”

Israel’s enemy

Despite its wars with Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and the genocide it has unleashed on Gaza, it is Iran that looms largest in the minds of many Israelis as the most deadly of the many enemies they face.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed that Tehran stands on the brink of developing nuclear weapons and is responsible for backing Israel’s opponents across the region.

“I don’t know if it’s Netanyahu pushing it or the whole of society,” Israeli political scientist Ori Goldberg said. “Israelis are desperate for any sign of a … masterplan in which they … will unite against any foe threatening their destruction.”

Israel has a history of covert operations in Iran.

Previous Israeli operations have targeted Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes and embedded agents and weapons systems inside Iranian territory.

Israeli intelligence has also exploited its presence within Iran to conduct a series of high-profile assassinations of nuclear scientists and politicians, including the Palestinian group Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed while attending Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony in July 2024.

Israel is also widely acknowledged to have infiltrated deep into Iran and its security networks in the weeks before the June war. At that time, Israel was not only able to target scientists and officials involved in the country’s nuclear programme for assassination, but also to assemble and launch drones from within Iranian territory.

“My assumption is that the Mossad is active in Tehran behind the scenes,” said Ahron Bregman, who teaches at King’s College London and has written extensively on Israeli intelligence operations. “Israeli officials are unusually quiet. [There are] clear instructions not to talk [and] not to be seen to be involved in any way.”

“I assume there are Israeli agents on the ground, reporting back on the situation from the streets, particularly now that the internet in Iran is down,” he continued. “Operationally, it is easier to do things on the ground as it is so chaotic now.”

In the eyes of many analysts, Iran’s internal cohesion has been fundamentally undermined by the long-running series of protests and unrest, which has allowed for the infiltration of foreign security services.

Exacerbating those fissures has been the toxic mixture of crippling sanctions, corruption and the deaths of protesters.

“I’d be very surprised if Israeli agents were not active within Iran right now,” defence analyst Hamze Attar said. “They’re going to be doing everything they can to make sure these protests continue and escalate.”

“Principally, they’re going to try to provide the demonstrators with what they need most: exposure,” Attar continued. “People have come to expect violence from the Iranian regime. What [the protesters] need is to know it’s not for nothing. That’s what Israel and the US will be focusing on: providing the internet access that will allow people to share footage of what’s happening to them. The protesters will know where [what countries that support] is coming from, but right now – in the midst of the chaos – they’re very unlikely to care.”

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 9 (UPI) — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States and Israel on Friday of “direct involvement” in his country’s ongoing anti-government street protests and of attempting to turn them violent, while dismissing their military intervention as “a weak possibility.”

Speaking during a news conference after meeting with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri, Araghchi said the current wave of demonstrations in Iran was similar, “to a large extent,” to the popular protests that broke out in Lebanon in 2019, when the collapse of the national currency and rising prices of hard currencies triggered widespread unrest.

He said the government in Tehran was seeking to “avoid this problem” and resolve it through dialogue.

“What differs this time are statements by American and Israeli officials indicating their direct involvement and interference in the disturbances in Iran,” he said. “They are trying hard to turn these peaceful protests into violence.”

He cited, as an example, Mike Pompeo, the former U.S. CIA director and secretary of state, who addressed Iranian protesters in a post on X on Jan., saying: “Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them ….”

According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights non-governmental organization, at least 51 protesters, including nine children under 18, have been killed, hundreds injured, and more than 2,200 detained in the latest round of nationwide protests in Iran.

The unrest, which began Dec. 28 in Tehran’s bazaar over poor economic conditions, quickly spread to other parts of the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran and “come to the rescue” of protesters if they are harmed by security forces.

Araghchi dismissed as “slim and weak” the possibility of U.S.-Israeli military intervention in his country, saying they had tried before — referring to the 12-day war in June 2025 — and that “it was a total failure.” He added that if they were to repeat it, “the results would be the same.”

The visiting foreign minister, who met with several Lebanese officials, said his two-day visit to Beirut was meant to consolidate bilateral political, economic and cultural ties and discuss how to confront mounting Israeli threats that “menace all the people of the region.”

“We are trying to open a new page in our relations … one that would serve and respect our mutual interests,” Araghchi said, expressing hope that his visit would mark the start of a new chapter and a “launching point” for Iran-Lebanon ties.

Lebanon’s new leaders, who have been in power for a year, have adopted bold decisions concerning Hezbollah, the country’s most powerful militant group, which has been financed and armed by Iran for more than four decades.

Chief among these was a decision to assert the country’s sovereignty and contain weapons –meaning disarming Hezbollah — in line with the Nov. 27, 2024, cease-fire agreement brokered by the United States and France to end 14 months of war with Israel.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji went a step further by asking Araghchi during their meeting early Friday whether Tehran “accepts the presence of an illegal armed organization on its territory” — similar to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Rajji said defending Lebanon is the responsibility of the Lebanese state, but this cannot happen in the presence of “an armed organization outside its authority.”

He called on Iran to discuss with Lebanon “a new approach regarding Hezbollah’s weapons,” so that they do not become “a pretext to weaken Lebanon.”

Araghchi replied that Iran supports Hezbollah “as a resistance group, but it does not interfere in its affairs, and any decision concerning Lebanon is left to the party itself.”

He added, however, that dialogue between the two countries is necessary to confront “challenges and risks” arising from differences in their approach “to certain issues.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam emphasized, in separate statements after talks with the visiting Iranian official, the importance of establishing sound relations with Iran, based on mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

Araghchi, who also met with Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem, dismissed threats to “deprive his country of its right to peaceful nuclear energy or to develop defensive capabilities” — conditions set by the United States and Israel to prevent an attack on Iran.

He confirmed that Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi is scheduled to visit Tehran on Saturday and, when asked by a reporter whether he would bring a new U.S. proposal for negotiations, said he was “waiting to see whether he is carrying any letter or proposal from any party.”

On Syria, Araghchi said Iran supports its sovereignty and unity and rejects any measures aimed at partitioning the country or occupying its territories.

“Syria’s stability is important for all countries in the region,” he added, noting that the Syrian authorities should understand that any rapprochement with the “Israeli Zionist” entity is not in Damascus’ interest and that normalization would lead to “Zionist conspiracies” against the Arab nation.

Over the past year, Syria and Israel have held intermittent negotiations aimed at reaching a security agreement to stabilize their shared border, prevent repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory and potentially pave the way for future diplomatic normalization.

VATICAN CITY — In his most substantial critique of U.S., Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, Pope Leo XIV on Friday denounced how nations were using force to assert their dominion worldwide, “completely undermining” peace and the post-World War II international legal order.

“War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” Leo told ambassadors from around the world who represent their countries’ interests at the Holy See.

Leo didn’t name individual countries that have resorted to force in his lengthy speech, the bulk of which he delivered in English in a break from the Vatican’s traditional diplomatic protocol of Italian and French. But his speech came amid the backdrop of the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela to remove Nicolás Maduro from power, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and other conflicts.

The occasion was the pope’s annual audience with the Vatican diplomatic corps, which traditionally amounts to his yearly foreign policy address.

In his first such encounter, history’s first U.S.-born pope delivered much more than the traditional roundup of global hotspots. In a speech that touched on threats to religious freedom and the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion and surrogacy, Leo lamented how the United Nations and multilateralism as a whole were increasingly under threat.

“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies,” he said. “The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined.”

“Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion. This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence,” he said.

A geopolitical roundup of conflicts and suffering

Leo did refer explicitly to tensions in Venezuela, calling for a peaceful political solution that keeps in mind the “common good of the peoples and not the defense of partisan interests.”

The U.S. military seized Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, in a surprise nighttime raid. The Trump administration is now seeking to control Venezuela’s oil resources and its government. The U.S. government has insisted Maduro’s capture was legal, saying drug cartels operating from Venezuela amounted to unlawful combatants and that the U.S. is now in an “armed conflict” with them.

Analysts and some world leaders have condemned the Venezuela mission, warning that Maduro’s ouster could pave the way for more military interventions and a further erosion of the global legal order.

On Ukraine, Leo repeated his appeal for an immediate ceasefire and urgently called for the international community “not to waver in its commitment to pursuing just and lasting solutions that will protect the most vulnerable and restore hope to the afflicted peoples.”

On Gaza, Leo repeated the Holy See’s call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and insisted on the Palestinians’ right to live in Gaza and the West Bank “in their own land.”

In other comments, Leo said the persecution of Christians around the world was “one of the most widespread human rights crises today,” affecting one in seven Christians globally. He cited religiously motivated violence in Bangladesh, Nigeria, the Sahel, Mozambique and Syria but said religious discrimination was also present in Europe and the Americas.

There, Christians “are sometimes restricted in their ability to proclaim the truths of the Gospel for political or ideological reasons, especially when they defend the dignity of the weakest, the unborn, refugees and migrants, or promote the family.”

Leo repeated the church’s opposition to abortion and euthanasia and expressed “deep concern” about projects to provide cross-border access to mothers seeking abortion.

He also described surrogacy as a threat to life and dignity. “By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, this violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a product, and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family,” he said.

Winfield writes for the Associated Press.

Army chief hits out at foreign ‘rhetoric’ targeting Iran, threatens decisive action to ‘cut off hand of any aggressor’.

Iran’s top judge warned protesters who have taken to the streets during a spiralling economic crisis there will be “no leniency for those who help the enemy against the Islamic Republic”, accusing the US and Israel of sowing chaos.

“Following announcements by Israel and the US president, there is no excuse for those coming to the streets for riots and unrest,” said Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Wednesday in comments on the deadly protests carried by Fars news agency.

Amid growing unrest, Iran is under international pressure after US President Donald Trump threatened last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue”.

His threat – accompanied by an assertion that the US is “locked and loaded and ready to go” – came seven months after Israeli and US forces bombed Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war.

Additionally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the protesters on Sunday, telling ministers, “It is quite possible that we are at a moment when the Iranian people are taking their fate into their own hands.”

Following Ejei’s warning, Iran’s army chief threatened preemptive military action over the “rhetoric” targeting Iran.

Speaking to military academy students, Major-General Amir Hatami – who took over as commander-in-chief of Iran’s army after a slew of top military commanders were killed in Israel’s 12-day war – said the country would “cut off the hand of any aggressor”.

“I can say with confidence that today the readiness of Iran’s armed forces is far greater than before the war. If the enemy commits an error, it will face a more decisive response,” said Hatami.

‘Longstanding anger’

The nationwide demonstrations, which have seen dozens of people killed so far, ignited at the end of last month when shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shuttered their businesses in anger over the collapse of Iran’s rial currency, against a backdrop of deepening economic woes driven by mismanagement and punishing Western sanctions.

The Iranian state has not announced casualty figures. HRANA, a network of human rights activists, reported a death toll of at least 36 people as well as the arrest of at least 2,076 people. Al Jazeera has been unable to verify any figures.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised not to “yield to the enemy” following Trump’s comments, which acquired added significance after the US military raid that seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran, over the weekend.

Seeking to halt the anger, Iran’s government began on Wednesday paying the equivalent of $7 a month to subsidise rising costs for dinner-table essentials such as rice, meat and pasta – a measure widely deemed to be a meagre response.

“More than a week of protests in Iran reflects not only worsening economic conditions, but longstanding anger at government repression and regime policies that have led to Iran’s global isolation,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said.

Acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim has left his post in Seoul and returned to the United States, the foreign ministry said Wednesday, amid speculation he may be assigned a new role in the Trump administration related to Korea issues.

Kim’s departure came just about two months after he took up the post as charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in October last year.

Kim succeeded then acting U.S. Ambassador Joseph Yun after the position had remained vacant since former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Philip Goldberg left the post early last year following the launch of the second Trump administration.

Kim recently informed Seoul officials he returned to the U.S., according to the foreign ministry.

Jim Heller, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, is expected to serve as charge d’affaires until a new ambassador is appointed.

Sources say that Kim could be tapped for a new role handling Korea-related issues, possibly a position tasked with implementing the summit agreements reached between the allies on security and other matters, or dealing with North Korea issues.

Kim has likely been named a senior adviser to Allison Hooker, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, a diplomatic source said. Both Hooker and Kim were deeply involved in nuclear negotiations with North Korea during Trump’s first term, when denuclearization talks were in full swing.

Prior to his posting in Seoul, Kim served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Taiwan at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Kim’s departure leaves the ambassadorial post in Seoul vacant once again. Goldberg assumed the position more than a year after the Biden administration took office. It took about 18 months for Ambassador Harry Harris to take up the post under Trump’s first term.

Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, has said that “no foreign agent” is running Venezuela in the wake of Nicolas Maduro’s abduction by United States military forces.

Rodriguez, who had been Maduro’s vice president before his abduction, spoke during a televised event on Tuesday, a day after Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in a New York court to drug-trafficking conspiracy charges.

“The government of Venezuela is in charge in our country, and no one else. There is no foreign agent governing Venezuela,” Rodriguez said.

Venezuela’s prosecutor general, meanwhile, called for the immediate release of Maduro and his wife.

“The military operation, without a declaration of war or a UN Security Council resolution, represents an illegal act of armed aggression of a terrorist nature,” Tarek William Saab said.

The statements come amid the continuing fallout from Saturday’s military operation, which left dozens of people in Venezuela dead. The offensive has been broadly condemned as a violation of international law.

Venezuela on Tuesday released a list of the 24 soldiers killed in the predawn assault. Cuba also announced that 32 members of its military had died. Rodriguez declared a seven-day period of mourning to commemorate the fallen military members.

Since seizing Maduro from his residence, the administration of US President Donald Trump has offered little clarity about its plans for Venezuela.

Trump said on Saturday that the US would “run” Venezuela, a statement US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked back the next day.

The top diplomat instead said that US officials would guide the “direction” of how the country is run and use sanctions and an ongoing embargo to force more access to Venezuela’s oil industry.

Rubio, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine briefed a bipartisan group of Congress members on Monday about the Venezuela operation.

But several lawmakers said that the administration had offered scarce insight into its justification for conducting the strike without first seeking approval from Congress, much less its plans for Venezuela’s future.

“This briefing, while very extensive and long, posed far more questions than it ever answered,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said afterwards.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Trump ally in the Republican Party, said the next few days would show Venezuela’s “government structure and how willing they are to work with the US”.

In a social media post, Thune called Rodriguez a “practical person, pragmatic person” who “will understand the importance of figuring out a path forward to where America’s national security priorities can be prioritized by Venezuela”.

Trump, meanwhile, offered few new details on the operation during a retreat with Republicans on Tuesday, beyond praising the abduction as an “amazing military feat” and “brilliant tactically”.

Speaking from exile in Miami, Florida, former Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said the country had a “wonderful and incredible opportunity”.

Guaido, who fled Venezuela in 2023, said that rebuilding the country’s democracy would allow millions of Venezuelans to return, and help “bring back to life the oil fields” and restore prosperity.

He condemned Rodriguez as “an acting dictator”, describing the current period as “a phase of transition” that will only be complete “once the rule of law has been reinstalled”.

Unease in Caracas

In Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, crowds gathered on Tuesday for a state-organised display of support for the government.

Some marchers flashed “V” victory signs. Hardline Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello – who, like Maduro, has been indicted by the US Department of Justice – was seen wading through the gathering. He wore a blue cap emblazoned with the slogan, “To doubt is to betray.”

But Noris Argotte Soto, a Venezuelan reporter in Caracas, told Al Jazeera that the situation in the capital continues to be tense, with most residents staying inside their homes.

“In the peripheral areas of the city, everybody remains at home. The tension is rising; people are on edge. And people are very much afraid of going out into the streets, mostly because [of] the security forces that we see at the main points of the city,” she said.

Soto added that government-aligned paramilitaries have been working alongside the military in recent days to maintain security and crack down on potential dissent.

“They were working yesterday with the security forces,” she said.

“They were basically bullying people, intimidating people, searching their cars, even demanding their cell phones to check their messages, check their social media.”

Regional uncertainty

Anxiety was also felt across the region, as the Trump administration has upped its threats against Venezuela’s neighbour, Colombia, as well as the island of Greenland in the northern Atlantic.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s attack, Trump said he had not ruled out an attack on Colombia for allegedly failing to tamp down on the illegal drug trade.

He described the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, who has been a vocal critic of US operations in Venezuela, as a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States”.

On Tuesday, Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio announced she will meet with the US Embassy’s charge d’affaires in Bogota to present a formal complaint over the recent US “threats”.

Villavicencio said she hopes to reassure the Trump administration “about all that we are doing in the fight against drug trafficking”.

Greenland and Denmark also called for an expedited meeting with Rubio on Tuesday to “discuss the significant statement made by the United States”, Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, wrote on social media.

In the wake of Maduro’s abduction, Trump again floated taking control of Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Trump aide Stephen Miller later said that Washington has a right to seize sovereign territories if it deems such moves to be in its national interest.

The statement was in line with a White House national security strategy released in December, which pledged to re-establish US “pre-eminence” in the Western Hemisphere.

The White House on Tuesday again said it was exploring options to seize Greenland, adding that “utilizing the US military is always an option”.

An array of European countries, as well as Canada, have rushed to support Greenland, noting that Denmark is a NATO member. Therefore, an attack on the island would constitute an attack on the entire bloc.

On Tuesday, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined with Denmark to issue a joint statement denouncing Trump’s remarks.

“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the statement said.

People are being warned to expect disruption

British travellers heading to France have been handed an urgent alert following major disruption. The warning comes after Eurostar axed all its London-to-Europe departures for the day due to a power cut that forced the Channel Tunnel to shut down.

A broken-down LeShuttle train has now been removed from the Channel Tunnel. The firm confirmed that no passengers were left stranded inside following the power outage that led to the closure.

All Eurostar services from London to the continent were scrapped for the day. LeShuttle journeys through the Channel Tunnel are “expected to resume gradually” following the earlier electrical supply problem, according to the tunnel’s operator.

The Foreign Office has now updated its guidance in response to the disruption.

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Its Foreign Travel Advice states: “Eurostar services to and from Belgium, France and the Netherlands are experiencing severe delays and last-minute cancellations. Eurotunnel LeShuttle services between UK and France are also disrupted. Travellers should expect disruption and check the latest service updates with operators.”

Getlink, the company responsible for managing and running the tunnel, released a statement saying: “An incident related to the power supply to trains occurred last night in part of the Channel Tunnel, affecting train and shuttle traffic. A technical intervention is required, which is currently underway.

“The service is temporarily suspended in both directions. Traffic is expected to resume gradually around 1500 CET for LeShuttle customers.

“Our teams are working to restore the situation as quickly as possible. Waiting times will be adjusted throughout the day.

“Eurotunnel apologises for the inconvenience and thanks its customers for their patience and understanding.”

Dec. 26 (UPI) — Nigerian President Bola Tinubu gave the U.S. government the “go-ahead” to carry out airstrikes on ISIS targets, Nigeria’s foreign minister said Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the strikes Thursday, calling them retaliation against “ISIS terrorist scum” for violence on “primarily, innocent Christians.”

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told Al Jazeera the country cooperated with the U.S. Defense Department on the “fight against terrorism” in the northwestern region.

Citing local news sources, the news outlet said at least one missile landed in the village of Jabo in Sokoto state. Residents told Al Jazeera there were no casualties in the village.

“The bomb fell and burst into many pieces. There were two big pieces of debris. One of them was carried by two people,” resident Abdulrahman Mainasara said.

Resident Ismail Umar told the outlet the village hadn’t received any armed attacks from ISIS in more than two years.

Tuggar said the Nigerian government provided intelligence to the U.S. government, and he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the phone twice before the strikes. He added that Tinubu was also involved in the decision-making process.

“Now that the U.S. is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the [Nigerian] president emphasized yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other,” Tuggar said in an appearance on Channels Television‘s Sunrise Daily program.

Tuggar and other officials, though, took issue with Trump’s rhetoric saying that ISIS violence targets only Christians in Nigeria.

“We are a multi-religious country, and we are working with partners like the U.S. to fight terrorism and safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians,” Tuggar said.

Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the director of the non-profit organization Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, said suggestions that ISIS is primarily targeting people based on religion could incite ethnic and religious tensions in Nigeria.

“Muslims are being killed and harassed every day by the same criminals,” Rafsanjani said, according to the local news outlet Leadership. “This conversation should be about human life, not religion or geography.”

Dec. 25 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s defense procurement agency is accelerating efforts to develop and certify defense-grade semiconductors, warning that reliance on foreign supply chains for critical chips could delay weapons deployment and weaken long-term competitiveness in arms exports.

Modern weapon systems increasingly depend on semiconductors for core functions including missile guidance and navigation, radar detection and tracking, encrypted military communications and autonomous operation in drones and unmanned platforms, defense officials and industry experts say.

Analysts say dependence on overseas sources for such components creates vulnerabilities that go beyond cost. If access is disrupted by export controls, manufacturing changes or supply discontinuation, military programs can face delays because defense-grade parts often require retesting and recertification even after minor design or packaging changes.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it launched a task force in January 2024 to prepare for a Defense Semiconductor Center and has been building a roadmap for project planning and management along with a dedicated reliability evaluation and certification function, according to a notice posted on the government innovation portal.

In a December policy briefing, the agency said it began research and development projects tied to defense semiconductors, including high-power radio-frequency components for radars and semiconductors for space communications.

Defense semiconductor applications span a growing set of systems, including transmit-receive modules for active electronically scanned array radars, processing chips for synthetic aperture radar on unmanned aerial vehicles, satellite communications components for small satellites and tactical-grade inertial sensors, analysts said.

DAPA has pursued center establishment in parallel with research programs aimed at building a domestic ecosystem. The agency said it selected five core technology projects in May, with four expected to begin within the year. In December, it announced the start of projects including space semiconductors for small satellite communications, tactical-grade gyro sensors, chips for unmanned aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar and chips for active electronically scanned array radars, emphasizing a goal of reducing reliance on foreign technology.

The agency also held a defense semiconductor development forum in November that brought together government officials, industry and researchers, according to the report.

Experts said the next hurdles are less about initial research and more about building an ecosystem that can certify reliability and support sustained production.

Defense-grade semiconductors must perform under extreme conditions including temperature swings, vibration, shock, electromagnetic exposure and long storage periods, requiring testing infrastructure and standards that differ from civilian certification methods.

Analysts also said South Korea will need an end-to-end supply chain covering design, manufacturing, packaging and verification. Because defense chips are often produced in small volumes across multiple specialized variants, they can be deprioritized on commercial foundry and packaging lines unless trusted production capacity is secured.

Specialized investment will also be needed in areas such as compound semiconductors and radiation-hardened components used in radars, electronic warfare systems and satellites, the report said.

To ensure research translates into deployment, experts said development should be structured around early joint design involving military users, system integrators and component makers.

Analysts said defense semiconductors should be treated as national security infrastructure that affects the speed of force deployment, operational sustainability and export reliability, rather than as an optional industrial policy goal.

– Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Ben Sasse told Nebraska constituents in a telephone town hall meeting that President Trump has “flirted with white supremacists,” mocks Christian evangelicals in private and “kisses dictators’ butts.”

Sasse, who is running for a second term representing the reliably red state, made the comments in response to a question about why he has been willing to publicly criticize a president of his own party. He also criticized Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and said Trump’s family has treated the presidency “like a business opportunity.”

The comments were first reported by the Washington Examiner after it obtained an audio recording of the senator’s comments, which has been posted on YouTube. Sasse spokesman James Wegmann said the call occurred Wednesday.

Other Nebraska Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Dan Bacon and state GOP executive director Ryan Hamilton, told the Omaha World-Herald that they disagree with Sasse’s characterizations of the president.

“Sen. Sasse is entitled to his own opinion,” U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, another Nebraska Republican, said in a statement. “I appreciate what President Trump has accomplished for our country and will continue to work with him on efforts which help Nebraska.”

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh declined to comment on Sasse’s remarks, the World-Herald said.

Sasse has positioned himself as a conservative willing to criticize Trump at times, and he is seen as a potential presidential candidate for 2024. His comments Wednesday were in response to a caller who asked about his relationship with the president, adding, “Why do you have to criticize him so much?” Trump carried Nebraska by 25 percentage points in 2016.

The senator said he has worked hard to have a good relationship with Trump and prays for the president regularly “at the breakfast table in our house.” He praised Trump’s judicial appointments.

But he said he’s had disagreements with Trump that do not involve “mere policy issues,” adding, “I’m not at all apologetic for having fought for my values against his in places where I think his are deficient, not just for a Republican, but for an American.”

Sasse began his list with, “The way he kisses dictators’ butts,” and said Trump “hasn’t lifted a finger” on behalf of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

“I mean, he and I have a very different foreign policy,” Sasse said. “It isn’t just that he fails to lead our allies. It’s that we, the United States, regularly sells out our allies under his leadership.”

Sasse said he criticizes Trump for how he treats women and because Trump “spends like a drunken sailor,” saying he criticized Democratic President Obama over spending.

“He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors,” Sasse said. “At the beginning of the COVID crisis, he refused to treat it seriously. For months, he treated it like a news-cycle-by-news-cycle PR crisis rather than a multiyear public health challenge, which is what it is.”

Anyone travelling to these destinations could invalidate their holiday insurance

There are certain spots around the globe that are considered quite risky, and travellers heading there receive guidance on safety precautions they should adopt to avoid mishaps.

However, only 55 locations feature on the ‘do not travel’ list, which has been flagged with a warning by the Foreign Office.

Anyone journeying to these places will be voiding their holiday insurance, meaning if things go pear-shaped, they’ll be left without support. Officials also caution that they could be jeopardising their safety. If you require consular assistance locally, it will likely be difficult to obtain.

For specific countries, the Foreign Office also advises against all but essential travel, implying you should reconsider any holiday plans The Foreign Office cautions: “Get advice and warnings about travel abroad, including entry requirements, safety and security, health risks and legal differences.”

It explained: “No foreign travel can be guaranteed safe. FCDO publishes travel advice to help you decide if it’s safe enough for you to travel to a particular destination. In some instances we also give information about how to reduce the risks you may face there. All environments contain some level of risk and you should consider what precautions you should take.

“You must take personal responsibility for your own travel. Only you can decide whether you should travel to a country or stay there, and what activities to take part in.”

People may face different risks due to their:

• gender
• ethnic background
• sexuality
• health

The Foreign Office has general guidance for specific types of traveller to help you understand some of these risks.

The FCDO sometimes formally advises British people against ‘all but essential travel’ or ‘all travel’ to a particular country. It said:

“Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against advice from FCDO. We only advise against travel if we think the risk to British nationals is unacceptably high. For example, this could be due to:

• armed conflict
• military coups
• civil unrest
• disease outbreaks
• natural disasters

“For terrorist threats, we only advise against travel:

• in situations of extreme and imminent danger
• where the threat is sufficiently specific, large-scale or widespread to affect British nationals severely

“We may advise against travel to:

• a whole country
• parts of a country

“The ‘Warnings and insurance’ section of each travel advice page lists all the areas where we advise against travel. If you want to know about changes to travel advice for a specific country, you can sign up to receive email alerts about updates.”

FCDO advises against all travel

1. Afghanistan – “The security situation is volatile”
2. Belarus – “You face a significant risk of arrest”
3. Burkina Faso – “Due to the threat of terrorist attacks and terrorist kidnap”
4. Haiti – “Due to the volatile security situation”
5. Iran – “British nationals are at significant risk of arrest”
6. Mali – “Due to unpredictable security conditions”
7. Niger – “Due to the rise of reported terrorist and criminal kidnappings”
8. Russia – “Due to the risks and threats from its continuing invasion of Ukraine”
9. South Sudan – “Due to the risk of armed violence and criminality”
10. Syria – “Ongoing conflict and unpredictable security conditions”
11. Yemen – “Unpredictable security conditions”

FCDO advises against all travel to parts

1. Algeria – all travel to within 30km of Algeria’s borders with Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Tunisia
2. Armenia – within 5km of the full eastern border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the M16/H26 road between the towns of Ijevan and Noyemberyan
3. Azerbaijan – within 5km of the Azerbaijan-Armenia border
4. Benin – northern border regions
5. Burundi – Cibitoke and Bubanza provinces, former Kayanza province, former Bujumbura Rural province and the RN5 road north of Melchior Ndadaye airport
6. Cambodia – within 50km from the border with Thailand
7. Cameroon – Bakassi Peninsula, parts of the Far-North Region, North-West Region and South-West Region and within 40km of the Central African Republic, Chad and Nigeria borders
8. Central African Republic – against all travel except to the capital, Bangui
9. Chad – Borkou, Ennedi Ouest, Ennedi Est and Tibesti provinces, Kanem Province, including Nokou, Lake Chad region and within 30km of all Chad’s other borders
10. Congo – within 50km of the Republic of Congo-Central African Republic border in Likouala Region
11. Côte d’Ivoire – within 40km of borders with Burkina Faso and Mali
12. Democratic Republic of the Congo – within 50km of the border with the Central African Republic, the province of Kasaï Oriental, the Kwamouth territory of Mai-Ndombe Province and provinces in Eastern DRC
13. Djibouti – Djibouti-Eritrea border
14. Egypt – within 20km of the Egypt-Libya border and the North Sinai Governorate
15. Eritrea – within 25km of Eritrea’s land borders
16. Ethiopia – international border areas, parts of the Tigray region, Amhara region, Afar region, Gambela region, Oromia region, Somali region, Central, Southern, Sidama and South West regions and Benishangul-Gumuz region
17. Georgia – South Ossetia and Abkhazia
18. India – within 10km of the India-Pakistan border and Jammu and Kashmir
19. Indonesia – Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, Mount Sinabung, Mount Marapi, Mount Semeru, Mount Ruang, Mount Ibu
20. Iraq – advises against all travel to parts of Anbar province, Basra province, Diyala province, Kirkuk province, Ninawa province, Salah al-Din province, Sadr City and within 30km of federal Iraq’s borders with Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
21. Israel – against all travel to Gaza, parts of the West Bank and Northern Israel
22. Jordan – within 3km of the border with Syria
23. Kenya – Kenya-Somalia border and northern parts of the east coast
24. Lebanon – areas in Beirut and Mount Lebanon Governorate, the South and Nabatiyeh Governorates, the Beqaa Governorate, the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, the Akkar Governorate, the city of Tripoli and Palestinian refugee camps
25. Libya – advises against all travel to Libya except for the cities of Benghazi and Misrata
26. Mauritania – Eastern Mauritania and within 25km of the Malian border
27. Moldova –Transnistria
28. Mozambique – Cabo Delgado Province
29. Myanmar (Burma) – Chin State, Kachin State, Kayah State, Kayin State, Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing and Magway regions, Tanintharyi Region, Shan State North, North Mandalay Region
30. Nigeria – Borno State, Yobe State, Adamawa State, Gombe State, Kaduna State, Katsina State, Zamfara State and the riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states
31. Pakistan – within 10 miles of the border with Afghanistan, areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and the Balochistan Province
32. Philippines – western and central Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago
33. Saudi Arabia – within 10km of the border with Yemen
34. Somalia – advises against all travel except the western regions Awdal, Maroodijeh and Sahil
35. Sudan – against all travel except to the Hala’ib Triangle and the Bir Tawil Trapezoid
36. Palestine – against all travel to Gaza, parts of The West Bank and Northern Israel
37. Thailand –parts of the south, near the Thailand-Malaysia border, the Hat Yai to Padang Besar train line and within 50km of the whole border with Cambodia
38. Togo – within 30km of the border with Burkina Faso
39. Tunisia – parts of Western Tunisia, including the Tunisia-Algeria border and Southern Tunisia, including the Tunisia-Libya border
40. Turkey – within 10km of the Turkey-Syria border
41. Ukraine – all regions of Ukraine with the exception of some western regions
42. Venezuela – within 80km of the Venezuela-Colombia border, within 40km of the Venezuela-Brazil border, Zulia State
43. Western Sahara – within 30km of ‘the Berm’ boundary line and areas south and east of the Berm boundary line

FCDO advises against all but essential travel

With regard to the definition of ‘essential travel’, the FCDO says: “Whether travel is essential or not is your own decision. You may have urgent family or business commitments which you need to attend to. Only you can make an informed decision based on your own individual circumstances and the risks.”

1. North Korea – “The security situation can change quickly with no advance warning”

The Central Economic Conference meeting in Beijing in December 2025 proposed that “adhering to opening up to the outside world and promoting win-win cooperation in various fields” should be one of the main tasks of China’s economic work in the coming year. In 2025, China issued the “Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment in 2025,” and simultaneously, the 8th China International Import Expo 2025 was held in Shanghai. It was also agreed that the Hainan Free Trade Port would officially launch island-wide independent customs operations on December 18, 2025. This would bring numerous opportunities and momentum to support China’s continued opening up for global economic development.

 The year 2026 marks the launch of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. The Central Economic Conference was held in Beijing in December 2025, a significant historical juncture as the 14th Five-Year Plan drew to a close and the 15th began. This held particular significance, as the world looked to China’s economic planning for the coming year for inspiration and opportunities. China’s continued opening up in 2025 represents a vital engine for the global economy, contributing approximately 30% to global growth.

–            The opportunities and momentum generated by these policies are evident in the following areas:

1)       Deepening Institutional Opening through the Hainan Free Trade Port

  The launch of independent customs operations at Hainan Port on December 18, 2025, marked a milestone, transforming the port into a special customs zone governed by high-level international trade regulations.  With China’s ambitious trade facilitation plan, the percentage of duty-free goods in Hainan has risen from 21% to 74%, attracting significant investment. The island has already attracted more than 1.2 million enterprises.

2)       Stabilizing Foreign Investment (2025 Action Plan)

The “2025 Foreign Investment Stabilization Action Plan” aims to boost international investor confidence through practical measures, including opening new sectors by expanding pilot programs in telecommunications, healthcare, and education and supporting manufacturing and services by lifting restrictions on foreign investment across the entire manufacturing sector and encouraging investment in high-tech industries and green development. This has yielded numerous positive results for the Chinese economy, with China registering more than 49,000 new foreign-funded companies in the first half of 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of over 16%.

3)       China International Import Expo (CIIE 2025)

  The eighth edition of the expo in Shanghai solidified China’s position as a global launchpad for new products, achieving record-breaking figures. The expo saw record initial deals worth US$83 billion, a 4.5% increase over the previous year. With broad international participation, more than 4,500 companies from 138 countries participated, showcasing 461 new products and technologies.

4)       The Strategic Direction of the Chinese Economy for 2026 and Beyond

  The Central Economic Work Conference, held in Beijing in December 2025, affirmed that the main task for the coming year, 2026, is to ensure a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) while achieving mutually beneficial cooperation. This will be accomplished by China focusing on aligning its domestic regulations with high-level international economic and trade standards in areas such as government procurement, e-commerce, and finance.  This should coincide with achieving sustainable growth in the Chinese economy, especially given the International Monetary Fund’s upward revision of its growth forecast for China to 5% for 2025, which underscores the resilience of the Chinese economy in the face of global shocks.

  Accordingly, we understand the extent of China’s aspirations to achieve new developmental and economic leaps during 2026, with numerous promising future opportunities available to China. It possesses the capacity to simultaneously improve the quality and scale of development, achieve a strong launch for its 15-year plan, and offer more ambitious investment and development opportunities to the world. 

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview recorded in October with Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines documentary programme, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells correspondent Hind Hassan that strikes by Israel and the United States in June caused “serious damage” to Iran’s nuclear facilities but insists its nuclear programme will continue.

“Technology cannot be eliminated by bombing,” he says, arguing that Iran’s scientific knowledge remains intact.

As Iran remains locked in a standoff with the US and refuses to renew negotiations while zero uranium enrichment demands remain in place, Araghchi says European snapback sanctions have undermined future cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Iran would reconsider how it cooperates in the future.

Despite emphasising that “diplomacy is our priority,” the foreign minister insists that Iran is prepared to fight back if it is attacked again. Araghchi maintains that while Tehran has “never trusted the United States as an honest negotiating partner”, Iran remains prepared to engage diplomatically if both sides respect each other’s rights and pursue mutual interests based on equality.

Minister says probe in response to case of ex-Reform UK lawmaker Nathan Gill, jailed for taking pro-Russia bribes.

The United Kingdom is launching an independent investigation into foreign interference in British politics, just weeks after a former Reform UK lawmaker was jailed for more than 10 years for taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements.

Steve Reed, the UK’s secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said on Tuesday that he had ordered the probe in response to the case of Nathan Gill, a former Member of the European Parliament and ex-leader of Reform UK in Wales.

“A British politician took bribes to further the interests of the Russian regime,” Reed said in the House of Commons. “This conduct is a stain on our democracy. The independent review will work to remove that stain.”

Gill was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on November 21.

He pleaded guilty in September to accepting thousands of euros from a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine between 2018 and 2019, and making scripted statements and television appearances at his behest.

The case had spurred widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party – which has been leading most polls – last month describing Gill’s actions as “reprehensible, treasonous and unforgivable”.

On Tuesday, Conservative MP Paul Holmes welcomed the independent review into foreign interference as a necessary step.

“Protecting the integrity of our democratic system from foreign interference is not a partisan issue. It goes to the heart of public trust in our elections,” Holmes told the House.

“Interference in our elections from foreign actors is something that we must all be vigilant against.”

Reed, the housing minister, said the independent probe would be led by Philip Rycroft, former UK permanent secretary for the Department for Exiting the European Union.

“The purpose of the review is to provide an in-depth assessment of the current financial rules and safeguards and make recommendations,” said Reed, adding that Rycroft has been asked to report his findings to the government by the end of March.

The minister noted that the British government put forward a strategy “for modern and secure elections” earlier this year in a push to address foreign interference and public distrust in the electoral system, among other issues.

But Reed said on Tuesday that “events have shown that we need to consider whether our firewall is enough”.

“The independent review will look at this,” he said, including by evaluating the UK’s existing political finance laws, systems to identify and mitigate foreign interference, and safeguards against illicit funding streams.