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More than 7,000 languages are spoken around the world today and at least 3,000 of them, or 40 percent, are endangered.

English is the most widely spoken language, with approximately 1.5 billion speakers in 186 countries. Two out of every 10 English speakers are native, while the remaining 80 percent speak English as their second, third or higher language, according to Ethnologue, a database which catalogues the world’s languages.

Mandarin Chinese is the second most spoken language with almost 1.2 billion speakers. However, when accounting for native speakers, it is the largest language in the world, owing to China’s large population.

Hindi comes in third at 609 million speakers, followed by Spanish (559 million), and Standard Arabic (335 million).

Scripts in the world’s most popular languages

There are 293 known scripts – sets of graphic characters used to write a language – according to The World’s Writing Systems, a reference book about global scripts.

More than 156 scripts are still in use today, while more than 137 historical scripts, including Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Aztec pictograms, are no longer in use.

The Latin script, which is used to write English, French, Spanish, German and more, is used in at least 305 of the world’s 7,139 known living human languages. More than 70 percent of the world’s population use it.

Which are the most endangered languages?

Of the 7,159 languages spoken worldwide, 3,193 (44 percent) are endangered, 3,479 (49 percent) are stable, and 487 (7 percent) are institutional, meaning they are used by governments, schools and the media.

A language becomes endangered when its users begin to pass on a more dominant language to the children in the community. Many are used as second languages.

According to Ethnologue, some 337 languages are said to be dormant while 454 are extinct.

Dormant languages are those that no longer have proficient speakers, but the language still has social uses and the language is part of the identity of an ethnic community. Extinct languages are those that have no speakers and no social uses or groups that claim it as part of their heritage or identity.

According to Ethnologue, 88.1 million people speak an endangered language as their mother tongue. There are:

• 1,431 languages with fewer than 1,000 first-language speakers
• 463 with fewer than 100 speakers
• 110 with fewer than 10 speakers

Just 25 countries are home to some 80 percent of the world’s endangered languages. Oceania has the most endangered languages, followed by Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Some endangered languages include:

Oceania 

In Australia, Yugambeh, an endangered Aboriginal language, is spoken by the Yugambeh people, primarily across the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan in eastern Australia.

In recent years, a strong community-led revitalisation programme and the use of learning apps have made the language more accessible to younger generations.

Asia 

Japan’s Ainu (Ainu Itak) is a critically endangered language. According to UNESCO, it can’t be linked with certainty to any family of languages. The exact number of Ainu speakers is unknown, however a 2006 survey showed that out of 23,782 Ainu, 304 know the language.

Africa

In Ethiopia, Ongota is a critically endangered language.

It was spoken by a community on the west bank of the Weito River in southwest Ethiopia. There are only about 400 members of the community left, with a handful of elders speaking the language.

Americas

In North and Central America, almost all Indigenous languages are endangered. Louisiana Creole, a French-based creole with African and Indigenous influences, is a seriously endangered language in the United States, with it mostly spoken by elders.

Leco is an endangered Indigenous language spoken in Bolivia and is considered an isolated language – one that has no genetic relationship to other languages. The language is only now spoken by elders with a Leco ethnic population of only about 13,500.

Europe

Cornish (Kernewek), spoken in southwest England, was marked as an extinct language by UNESCO, until it was revived and in 2010 changed to an endangered language. It is spoken as a first language by 563 people according to the 2021 England and Wales census.

Feb. 20 (UPI) — The Dominican Republic opened the year with 1.22 million tourists in January, a 5.5% increase compared with the same month last year. The increase was driven by growth in air arrivals and sustained demand from the United States.

Tourist arrivals to the island by air surpassed the 800,000-passenger mark for the first time in a single month, posting year-over-year growth of 8.7%, according to the Ministry of Tourism,. The figure exceeds pre-pandemic levels and is 61% higher than recorded in January 2019.

“Receiving 1,219,606 visitors for the first time in the history of Dominican tourism tells us how extraordinary this year will be for the sector,” Dominican Republic Tourism Minister David Collado said.

Collado held meetings in New York with representatives of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Standard & Poor’s and American Express, as well as other key players in the international financial system, as part of a strategic agenda to position tourism as the country’s leading productive sector.

According to information released Thursday by the presidency, Collado presented projections for Dominican tourism for this year, highlighting the sector’s sustained growth and predicting that if the current trend continues, 2026 could close with new record figures for the industry.

Dominican tourism continues to position itself as a reliable destination for investment, authorities said, backed by what they describe as “a vision of sustainable development that inspires confidence in international markets.”

According to information from the Ministry of Tourism, North America is the main source market for tourists to the island, accounting for 59% of air arrivals, led by the United States and Canada. Latin America also showed solid performance and expanded its share of total visitors.

Punta Cana accounted for the largest share of the country’s air traffic during the month. The cruise segment recorded a slight decline compared with the same period last year, while hotel occupancy averaged 82% nationwide during peak season.

Tourism is one of the main generators of foreign exchange and employment. In 2025, the country received more than 11.6 million visitors, consolidating its position as the Caribbean’s leading tourist destination.

As part of its international promotion strategy, the Ministry of Tourism signed a strategic alliance with Visa Inc., making the Dominican Republic the first country in the Caribbean to finalize an agreement of this kind with the global payments company.

The alliance includes joint campaigns, targeted promotions and exclusive benefits for international travelers, with emphasis on key markets such as the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America.

The Dominican Republic is projected to be the fastest-growing economy in Latin America and the Caribbean in the coming years, according to the most recent forecasts by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Growth projections for 2026 place real GDP expansion between 4.0% and 4.5%, positioning the country as one of the economic leaders in the Caribbean region.

In that scenario, tourism is a strategic engine and the backbone of the Dominican economy. Its role is not only to generate revenue, but also to act as a catalyst for other key sectors, such as construction, commerce and transportation.

In 2025, the sector contributed approximately $21.1 billion, representing about 16% of the gross domestic product.

Feb. 20 (UPI) — Most Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump‘s handling of deporting undocumented immigrants, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Friday.

The poll of 2,600 people found that 58% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue, while 62% oppose the tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The poll was taken Feb. 12-17, after the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.

Broken down by political party, 95% of Democrats disapprove of Trump handling of immigration, while 16% of Republicans agree. The latter figure is up from 13% in October. Independents feel he’s gone too far by 63%, which is up from 54% in October.

Trump’s approval rating on immigration has dropped steadily over the past year, and is down by 10%. He gets higher numbers on his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, 47%.

Half of Americans support efforts to deport all undocumented immigrants, the poll showed. In October, a poll showed that 45% were in support of expanded ICE operations and 46% were opposed. Today, Americans opposed the expanded operations by 53% to 40%.

A large number — 77% — believe that a warrant from a judge is necessary to enter a person’s home, while 20% believe an administrative warrant is enough.

And though the administration says it is targeting “the worst of the worst,” about 33% of Americans surveyed believe that.

The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll was conducted Feb. 12-17, 2026, among 2,589 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Feb. 20 (UPI) — The University of Mississippi Medical Center closed its 35 clinics throughout Mississippi on Friday after being targeted in a ransomware attack.

Medical center officials also canceled all elective medical procedures that were scheduled for the day and rescheduled all but dialysis appointments at the medical center’s location in the Jackson Medical Mall in the state’s capital.

That medical center remained open and provided medical services on Friday. Hospital officials said they and federal law enforcement were in contact with those who carried out the ransomware attack.

“We continue to work with federal authorities and national experts in cyberattack response as we evaluate the extent of the attack and our next steps,” medical center officials said in a Facebook post Thursday.

“We expect this to be a multi-day event and will communicate helpful information when available.”

The university medical center’s hospitals and emergency departments also were open. Officials said they plan to announce any closures that might affect those healthcare service providers if it becomes necessary.

University officials also canceled all online classes Friday, but in-person classes were held.

University Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs LouAnn Woodward confirmed a ransomware attack affected the medical center’s key network systems, including Epic and its medical records.

Woodward said officials at the medical center shut down its IT systems out of precaution and do not know when the matter might be resolved.

In the meantime, doctors and medical center staff were using pen and paper while continuing to provide medical services for patients until the IT system is restored.

The university health clinics provide many services, including treating cancer and chronic pain.

Feb. 20 (UPI) — Microsoft Gaming Chief Executive Officer Phil Spencer is retiring after 38 years at the tech giant and is being replaced by Asha Sharma, whom Microsoft hired from Instacart in 2024.

Sharma will become Microsoft’s executive vice president for gaming and report to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella.

Nadella said Spencer last year announced his decision to retire, and the company officials announced the pending change to staff on Friday.

Sharma will move from Microsoft’s CoreAI wing, where he was the company’s president of product development. He formerly was Instacart’s chief operating officer and before that was Meta’s vice president of product development.

Spencer is leaving the tech giant after former business development head Chris Young and Thomas Dohmke, former GitHub chief executive, departed last year.

Microsoft’s security systems head Charlie Bell also changed his role with the company but continues working in an individual capacity.

Microsoft’s video gaming revenues declined by 10% from December 2024 to December 2025, which exceeded the company’s expectations, according to CNBC.

Despite the tech firm’s reduced gaming revenue, it posted a 17% gain in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to a year earlier.

Microsoft in 2023 bought Activision Blizzard and made its Call of Duty gaming titles available on its cloud service.

Competition for Sony’s proprietary gaming system has impacted Microsoft’s gaming revenues due to its Xbox system not matching Sony’s PlayStation or Nintendo’s Switch in popularity.

Microsoft has closed its gaming development studios that developed new titles.

Activists released on bail include four hunger strikers: Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed, Qesser Zuhrah and Heba Muraisi.

Twelve activists linked to the Palestine Action group who were charged with breaking into the British site of an Israel-linked defence firm have been released on bail.

There were tears of joy at London’s Central Criminal Court, better known as the Old Bailey, as the 12 prisoners, including hunger strikers Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed, Qesser Zuhrah and Heba Muraisi, were released on Friday.

The group – which also included Zara Farooque, Salaam Mahmood, Moiz Ibrahim, Finn Collins, Hannah Davidson, Harland (Harley) Archer, Louie Adams and Liam Mullany – had been held on remand in connection with a raid on the Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol, on August 6, 2024.

“Despite the state’s best efforts to break each and every one of them, they will walk out today with their heads held high,” said a spokesperson for the Filton 24 Defence Committee, hailing their release as a “monumental victory”.

The release of the 12, which comes after 11 other defendants charged in connection with the raid were also granted bail, means that 23 out of the so-called “Filton 24” are now out of prison.

On February 4, six of the activists were acquitted of aggravated burglary, the most serious of the charges they faced in connection with the raid at ⁠London’s Woolwich Crown Court. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on charges of criminal damage.

On Wednesday, the same court dropped aggravated burglary charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, against the remaining 18 Filton 24 members, granting five more defendants bail.

Only Samuel Corner, who faced an additional charge of allegedly hitting a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer, remains on remand. He did not apply for bail on Friday.

The Filton 24 Defence Committee called for Corner’s release. “This isn’t right, or just, given he has already spent over 18 months in prison with no convictions. He should also be granted immediate bail,” said the spokesperson.

The release of the activists comes after the British High Court ruled that the government’s ban on Palestine Action as a “terror group” was unlawful and disproportionate.

⁠Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ⁠said in a statement that she was “disappointed” and that she intended to appeal the judgement in the Court of Appeal.

Mike Huckabee, the United States ambassador to Israel, has suggested that he would not object if Israel were to take most of the Middle East, stressing what he described as the Jewish people’s right to the land.

In an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired on Friday, Huckabee was pressed about the geographical borders of Israel, which he argues are rooted in the Bible.

Carlson told Huckabee that the biblical verse had promised the land to the descendants of Abraham, including the area between the Euphrates River in Iraq and the Nile River in Egypt.

Such a swath would encompass modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia.

“It would be fine if they took it all,” said Huckabee, who was appointed by President Donald Trump last year.

Carlson, who appeared taken aback by the statement, asked Huckabee if indeed he would approve of Israel expanding over the entire region.

“They don’t want to take it over. They’re not asking to take it over,” the ambassador replied.

The US envoy, an avowed Christian Zionist and staunch defender of Israel, later appeared to walk back his assertion, saying that it “was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement”.

Still, he left the door open for Israeli expansionism based on his religious interpretation.

“If they end up getting attacked by all these places, and they win that war, and they take that land, OK, that’s a whole other discussion,” Huckabee said.

The Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio shares Huckabee’s views on Israel’s right to expand.

The principle of territorial integrity and the prohibition against the acquisition of land by force have been a bedrock of international law since World War II.

In 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and must cease immediately.

But Israeli law does not clearly demarcate the country’s borders. Israel also occupies the Golan Heights in Syria, which it illegally annexed in 1981.

The US is the only country that recognises Israel’s claimed sovereignty over the Syrian territory.

After the 2024 war with Hezbollah, Israel also set up military outposts in five points inside Lebanon.

Some Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have openly promoted the idea of a “Greater Israel” with expanded borders.

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stirred international outrage in 2023 when he spoke at an event featuring a map that included the Palestinian territories and portions of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan as part of Israel, set against the colours of the Israeli flag.

In his interview with Carlson, Huckabee tried to argue that Israel’s right to exist is rooted in international law, but he also attacked the legal institutions that oversee international law for their opposition to Israeli abuses.

“One of the reasons I’m so grateful President Trump and Secretary Rubio are pushing hard, trying to get rid of the ICC [International Criminal Court] and the ICJ is because they have become rogue organisations that are no longer really about an equal application of law,” he said.

Beyond his professed religious devotion to Israel, Huckabee has faced criticism for failing to speak up for the rights of US citizens who have been killed and imprisoned by Israeli forces during his ambassadorship.

Last year, Huckabee even sparked anger from some conservatives in the US when he met with convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, who sold US intelligence secrets to the Israeli government, details of which later made it to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

Pollard, a former civilian analyst in the US Navy, served 30 years in jail and moved to Israel in 2020 after his release. He never expressed regret for his crimes, and in 2021, he called on Jewish employees in US security agencies to spy for Israel.

Huckabee said he does not agree with Pollard’s views, but he denied hosting him, arguing that he simply held a meeting with him at the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Asked if anyone can walk into the embassy to meet the envoy, Huckabee acknowledged that such a meeting requires a pre-approved appointment.

“He was able to come to the US embassy to have a meeting at his request. I did, and frankly, I don’t regret it,” Huckabee said.

“I met with a lot of people over the course of the time I’ve been here and will meet with a lot more.”

Feb. 20 (UPI) — Wildfires have burned more than 300,000 acres in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, and more than a million people in the region were under a fire watch Friday.

No deaths were reported, but several structures have been damaged or destroyed in Oklahoma’s Panhandle, where a 283,000-acre Ranger Road Fire was 20% contained as of Friday morning, KFOR reported. That fire spread into parts of southwestern Kansas.

The Stevens Fire, 12,428 acres, and the Side Road Fire, 3,680 acres, in Oklahoma’s Texas County were 60% and 75% contained, respectively as of Friday morning.

The Poor Farm Fire in Latimer County was 10% contained after burning some 9,000 acres.

Among other significant fires, the 43 Fire in Woodward County has burned 1,680 acres and was 60% contained, while the 1,400-acre Rattlesnake Fire in Osage and Washington counties was only 30% contained.

Other active fires are the 182-acre Hospital Road Fire in Carter County, which was 40% contained; the 242-acre 615 Fire in Cherokee County, which was 70% contained; and the 126-acre Chelsea Fire in Rogers County, which was 60% contained.

Warm, dry and windy conditions in the area triggered the fires, and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday declared states of emergency for Woodward, Beaver and Texas counties.

Many residents have evacuated those counties, and a significant fire danger remains in Texas and Cimarron counties in the Panhandle region.

Local forecasters said cooling temperatures and lessening wind speeds are expected to reduce the threat of the fires spreading, but wind speeds of between 25 mph and 35 mph, with gusts of up to 60 mph, continued on Friday morning.

Sudan’s civil war is shifting into a drone-driven phase, erasing the lines between battlefield and civilian life. As Ramadan begins under famine conditions, how do the people of Sudan mark the holy month in the midst of war?

In this episode: 

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Sarí el-Khalili and Melanie Marich with Maya Hamadeh, Tuleen Barakat and our guest host, Tamara Khandaker. It was edited by Ney Alvarez. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhemm. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. 

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Feb. 20 (UPI) — Peru’s interim President Jose Maria Balcazar was summoned to continue his trial over alleged misappropriation of funds from the Lambayeque Bar Association just one day after assuming the presidency.

The case adds legal pressure to a temporary administration already shaped by political uncertainty.

Peru’s Public Ministry alleges that during his tenure as dean of the Lambayeque Bar Association from 2019 to 2022, Balcazar committed irregularities in managing the institution’s financial income and expenditures.

Prosecutors also allege he ordered profits to be deposited into his personal bank accounts, El Comercio newspaper reported.

Balcazar, a lawmaker from the leftist Peru Libre party, assumed the interim presidency Wednesday following the removal of his predecessor Jose Jeri. News of the court summons emerged only hours after his inauguration.

The first hearing is scheduled June 16, with additional sessions set for June 23 and June 30, either virtually or at the Lambayeque Superior Court in Chiclayo, according to judicial authorities.

A judge ordered the president’s mandatory attendance and warned that failure to appear could result in him being declared in contempt and subject to a nationwide arrest warrant.

On the day lawmakers elected Balcazar, the Lambayeque Bar Association issued a statement opposing his candidacy and warning of multiple allegations against him, RPP Noticias reported.

The association expelled Balcazar permanently Aug. 13, 2022, citing violations of its statutes and code of ethics. It said his conduct caused “serious harm to his own professional association and, consequently, to the dignity and distinguished image all Peruvian lawyers must preserve.”

Balcazar has consistently denied the accusations, saying they lack legal basis.

He also has faced other investigations and complaints over several years. During his time as a judge and later as a congressman, he was the target of allegations including suspected judicial misconduct, fraud, identity impersonation and bribery, along with other questions raised about his professional conduct.

In his first remarks as president, Balcazar sought to downplay the impact of his legal cases, saying “it is not difficult to govern a country” and adding his administration will focus on ensuring “unquestionable” elections scheduled for April.

Separately, former President Pedro Castillo, who is serving an 11-year, five-month sentence for rebellion after his failed 2022 attempt to dissolve Congress, has requested a presidential pardon from Balcazar.

Castillo’s former defense minister and attorney Walter Ayala formally delivered it to the presidential office.

During Castillo’s administration, Balcazar emerged as one of his most visible defenders. He supported Castillo’s government and questioned investigations that involved officials close to the executive branch, local outlet Peru21 reported.

“The United States, after all, is not at war with every nation in the world.” The US Supreme Court has struck down Donald Trump’s use of a national emergency declaration to impose sweeping global tariffs. Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna explains the court’s reasoning.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 20 (UPI) — The announcement of the closure of FATE, the only tire manufacturer entirely owned by the Argentine capital and with more than 80 years of history, became the most visible symbol of the fracture facing industry under the government of Javier Milei.

FATE’s decision, announced on Wednesday, was made due to the company’s inability to compete with a wave of imported tires arriving from Asia at prices far below local costs.

FATE’s case was not isolated. According to the association Industriales Pymes Argentinos, or IPA, more than 22,000 companies have closed and more than 300,000 formal jobs have been lost over the past two years as a result of a trade liberalization policy that reduced tariffs with the promise of lowering consumer prices.

This strategy left local production facing competition that many business owners describe as unequal and difficult to sustain.

Daniel Rosato, the IPA president, told UPI that over the past two years, the country experienced an avalanche of imports, ranging from capital goods to food products.

He said Milei’s government reduced tariffs to boost competitiveness, but the outcome was different.

“Argentina has very high dollar-denominated costs and the domestic industry was unable to compete against cheaper imported products, many of these come from Asia,” Rosato said.

“It is very difficult to compete with China. This led the industry to begin producing less due to a lack of competitiveness. The recession is deepening. Factory closures affect not only small companies, but the entire industrial sector,” he said.

Economist Leonardo Park, a researcher at the think tank Fundar, said the government implemented a sweeping deregulation of foreign trade.

Some of these measures, he said, were necessary, such as eliminating bureaucratic systems that previously delayed or limited product imports and simplifying the permits companies needed to bring goods from abroad.

However, tariffs were also reduced, technical standards relaxed, customs controls loosened and the anti-dumping system was reformed.

“All of these reforms generated strong growth in imports since last year,” he said.

Park warned that a rapid increase in foreign purchases creates a risk for local production, as it competes directly with it.

“A drop in production can translate into a risk for the employment associated with that activity,” he said, adding that FATE’s case illustrates such an impact.

“More imported tires mean less domestic production,” Park said. “When production falls, companies downsize or close. The final effect is layoffs and job losses.”

The economist also pointed to two central concerns: the loss of industrial capabilities the country already developed and employment.

“Displaced workers often face difficulties finding jobs in other sectors, whether due to a lack of dynamism in the labor market, a shortage of new skills or because growing activities are concentrated in other regions,” Park said.

From a legal perspective, labor attorney Walter Mañko, partner at Deloitte Legal Argentina, said the company cited a loss of competitiveness that made the business unviable.

“It is true that tires coming from China have a much lower cost than those manufactured in Argentina and that generates a decline in domestic demand,” he said.

Mañko also underscored the social impact. The 920 jobs lost with FATE’s closure represent families that could be left without income. In economic terms, he added, the country loses its main tire manufacturer, a loss that he said cannot be overlooked.

After the closure announcement, Milei’s government intervened through the Labor Secretariat and ordered mandatory conciliation. It is a legal tool the state can activate without prior request from the company or the union to halt the conflict and restore the situation to the point before the crisis.

For 15 days, with the possibility of extending the period by five more, both sides must sit down to negotiate. The room for agreement is narrow. What happens in those talks will not only define FATE’s future, but also send a signal about Argentina’s industrial direction in this new economic phase.

Feb. 20 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump does not have the unilateral authority to impose tariffs.

The 6-3 decision struck down some of the broad tariffs Trump has imposed across the world from the Executive Branch. Chief Justice John Roberts said the president “must identify clear congressional authorization” to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs.

The decision came down in a lawsuit with several small businesses and Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration over improperly imposing tariffs. The plaintiffs argued that Trump was using the tariffs to raise revenue, a responsibility that falls under the scope of U.S. Congress, not the president.

While the Justice Department claimed that Trump was using tariffs to regulate foreign goods, Trump often said the tariffs were bringing in substantial revenue to the federal government.

Tariffs that Trump imposed using other laws will remain in place, such as tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Roberts added that the Trump administration has not provided any statutory support to its claim that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act applies to tariffs.

“We hold that the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs,” Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito, all conservative justices, dissented.

Friday’s decision is the first in which a legal challenge to Trump’s second-term policies received a full hearing and resolution from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Feb. 20 (UPI) — The 43-day government shutdown in the fall stymied U.S. gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.

GDP for the fourth quarter of 2025 grew by 1.4% on an annual basis, more than a full point below the Dow Jones estimate of 2.5%. Consumer spending climbed more slowly than expected, while government spending lagged behind greatly.

The slowdown in growth is significant when compared to the 4.4% growth recorded in the third quarter.

While economic growth slowed, inflation continued to apply pressure. The personal consumption expenditures price index, the key measurement of inflation used by the Federal Reserve, increased by 2.9%, well above the Fed’s 2% target.

The price index for GDP purchases rose 3.7%, accelerating from 3.4% in quarter three.

The BEA report says the full effects of the record government shutdown “cannot be quantified” as the data cannot be separated. It still estimated the effects of reduced labor services by government employees.

Hundreds of thousands of government employees were furloughed during the shutdown.

“BEA estimates that this reduction in services provided by the federal government subtracted about 1.0 percentage point from real GDP growth in the fourth quarter,” the report says.

Government spending in defense and nondefense declined, as did spending on exports.

Health care services were a leading source of growth in consumer spending. Decreased spending on goods offset this growth.

SEOUL, Feb. 20 (UPI) — South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index continues to set records, driven by strong corporate performances, including semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

The index more than doubled over the past year to surpass 5,800 points Friday. Also fueling the bullish rally are Mirae Asset Securities and SK Telecom, which have invested in promising U.S. firms expected to list in the near future.

The share price of Mirae Asset Securities, South Korea’s leading brokerage house, more than tripled this year, buoyed by strong earnings. It reported $1.1 billion in net profit for 2025, up 72% from a year earlier.

In addition, observers point out the company’s investment in SpaceX, which is expected to go public this summer with a market capitalization of around $1.25 trillion, has also underpinned its stock.

In 2022 and 2023, Mirae Asset Group reportedly channeled $278 million into SpaceX, and roughly half of that came from Mirae Asset Securities, although It does not confirm the detailed figures. A listing could deliver significant windfalls for the brokerage.

Yuanta Securities analyst Woo Do-hung said that Mirae Asset Securities is likely to remain strong through SpaceX’s IPO.

SpaceX is the world’s top private aerospace manufacturer, while xAI is an artificial intelligence startup founded by Elon Musk. Earlier this month, the former acquired the latter in an all-stock deal.

“Following its merger with xAI, SpaceX’s current valuation is estimated at around $1 trillion,” Woo said in a report, expecting the figure to rise to as much as $1.5 trillion after listing, further supporting Mirae Asset Securities on the Seoul bourse.

Reflecting confidence in its long-term upside potential, Mirae Asset Securities also plans to keep holding stakes in innovative companies like SpaceX before they go public.

“We are not yet considering an exit strategy, as our investments in innovative companies remain unlisted,” CFO Lee Kang-hyuk told a conference call earlier this month.

“We aim to pursue exits at the most optimal timing and then reinvest the recovered funds into high-growth assets or use them for M&A, thus establishing a stable virtuous cycle,” he added.

Another beneficiary in the Korean stock market is SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile carrier, which made a strategic equity investment of $100 million in Anthropic in mid-2023 through its venture arm.

Known for its Claude family of artificial intelligence models, Anthropic is also projected to go public in the coming years.

With its valuation estimated at about $380 billion, the value of SK Telecom’s stake has jumped several-fold to more than $2 billion, or nearly 20% of the company’s market capitalization.

The successful investment has bolstered its share price, which surged over 50% this year.

“The value of SK Telecom’s stake in Anthropic is estimated at around $2.1 billion,” Korea Investment & Securities analyst Kim Jeong-chan said in a report. “It has lifted SK Telecom’s valuation.”

He expected that AI-related revenue, including AI data centers and AI transformation, could put the firm on track to approach $1.4 billion in 2026 operating profit from $740 million last year.

Against this backdrop, industry watchers note that an increasing number of Korean corporations are likely to pursue long-term investments in promising startups from the advanced markets.

“As predicting the future has become increasingly difficult, companies are more often building portfolios of smaller investments rather than making large bets on a handful of prominent firms,” economic commentator Kim Kyeong-joon, formerly vice chairman at Deloitte Consulting Korea, told UPI.

“In the past, they might have made major investments in around five companies, but now it’s common to spread smaller investments across 30 firms. Even if only a few succeed, that is considered a success,” he said.

Kim noted that such a trend would accelerate across the country’s corporations with the advent of the AI era, when the future becomes even more challenging.

Ukraine expressed frustration with its ongoing peace talks with Russia and the United States this week, saying US pressure was too one-sided against it.

“As of today, we cannot say that the outcome is sufficient,” Zelenskyy told Ukrainians in a Wednesday evening video address.

Before Wednesday’s talks in Geneva had begun, Zelenskyy told Axios news service that ceding the remaining one-fifth of the eastern Donetsk region that Russia doesn’t control, as Moscow has demanded, would not be accepted by Ukrainians.

“Emotionally, people will never forgive this. Never. They will not forgive … me, they will not forgive [the US],” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukrainians “can’t understand why” they would be asked to give up additional land.

Russia currently controls about 19 percent of Ukraine, down from 26 percent in March 2022.

Last month, 54 percent of surveyed Ukrainians told the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology they categorically reject transferring the whole of the Donetsk region to Russian control, even in return for strong security guarantees, with only 39 percent accepting the proposal.

Two-thirds of respondents also said they did not believe the current US-sponsored peace negotiations would lead to lasting peace.

Instead of ceding land now, Zelenskyy favours freezing the current line of contact as a pretext for a ceasefire and territorial negotiations.

“I think that if we will put in the document … that we stay where we stay on the contact line, I think that people will support this [in a] referendum. That is my opinion,” he told Axios.

Blaming Ukraine

US President Donald Trump told Reuters last month that Ukraine, not Russia, was holding up a peace deal.

But Zelenskyy said it was “not fair” that Trump was putting public pressure on Ukraine to accept Russian terms, adding, “I hope it is just his tactics.”

US senators visiting Odesa last week agreed with him, saying they want their government to put more pressure on Russia.

“Nobody, literally nobody, believes that Russia is acting in good faith in the negotiations with our government and with the Ukrainians. And so pressure becomes the key,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Russia unleashed a barrage of 396 attack drones and 29 missiles on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on the day of the Geneva talks, its second large-scale blow in six days. On February 12, another attack had left 100,000 families without electricity, and 3,500 apartment buildings without heat in Kyiv alone.

“Russia greets with a strike even the very day new formats begin in Geneva – trilateral and bilateral with the United States,” said Zelenskyy in a video address. “This very clearly shows what Russia wants and what it is truly intent on.”

Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked Western allies to stop Russian energy sales that circumvent sanctions, and to stop exporting components to third countries, which re-export them to Russia’s armaments industry.

Russia is believed to be using a shadow fleet estimated at between 400 and 1,000 oil tankers to carry and sell its crude oil. France has seized two of those tankers, and the US seized a second tanker on Monday.

The US Senate has held off voting on a sanctions bill that has 85 percent support because of opposition from Trump. The bill would impose secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil – notably India and China.

Can Russia take Donetsk anyway?

Russia has fought since 2014 to seize the two eastern regions of Ukraine, which triggered its invasion – Luhansk and Donetsk – where it claimed a Russian-speaking population was being persecuted by the government in Kyiv.

Late last year, Russia managed to seize all of Luhansk, but analysts believe it is doubtful that it could take the remainder of Donetsk without serious losses, because Ukraine has heavily fortified a series of cities in the western part of the region.

That task has now become even harder, according to observers, since Russia this month lost access to Starlink terminals, which helped it communicate, fly its drones and coordinate accurate counter-battery fire.

As Russian ground assaults have faltered, Ukraine has seized the initiative to make gains in Dnipropetrovsk, said Ukrainian military observer Konstantyn Mashovets.

Ukrainian forces gained 201sq km of territory from Russian occupation forces between February 11 and 15, according to observers, reportedly their fastest advance since a 2023 counteroffensive.

Russia has been trying to replace Starlink using stratospheric balloons, reported Ukrainian Defence Ministry adviser Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov.

Russia would likely take six months to replace Starlink, said a Ukrainian unmanned systems commander, offering Ukrainian forces a window to roll back Russian advances.

It also suffered 31,680 casualties in January, estimated Ukraine’s General Staff – a sustainable number given Russian recruitment levels of about 40,000 a month. But those numbers would rise in the event of a major assault on the remainder of Donetsk, experts say.

“Our goal is to have at least 50,000 confirmed enemy losses every month,” said Ukrainian Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov on February 12, echoing a goal set by Zelenskyy last month.

Fedorov has set out to increase the production of remote-control FPV drones used on the front lines, which Ukraine says are now responsible for 60 percent of all Russian casualties.

As part of that effort, joint drone production facilities are planned in several European countries. The first started operating on February 13 in Germany, Zelenskyy told the Munich Security Conference, and nine more are planned.

In addition, Ukraine’s European allies pledged 38 billion euros ($44.7bn) in military aid this year during a Ramstein format meeting – the alliance of more than 50 countries which plans military aid for Ukraine – including 2.5 billion euros ($2.9bn) for Ukrainian drones – “one of the most successful ‘Ramsteins’,” Fedorov said.

The European Union has additionally voted to borrow 90 billion euros ($106bn) to give to Ukraine in financial aid this year and next.

The US stopped being a donor of military and financial aid to Ukraine after Trump was sworn in as president in January 2025.

Against Trump’s wishes, the US Senate voted to spend $400m in each of the next two years as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays US companies for weapons for Ukraine’s military. Europeans have pledged to spend at least 5 billion euros ($5.8bn) on US weapons this year.

Europe would also be the main contributor to a “reassurance force” policing the line of contact after a ceasefire, and on Ukraine’s insistence, US representatives also met with British, French, German, Italian and Swiss representatives before the talks in Geneva.

Nisreen Nassar and her family, like many other Palestinians, continue to live in schools and makeshift shelters.

Just before sunset on Thursday, Nisreen Nassar crouched over her makeshift oven, burning wood and scraps of plastic to bake bread for her family so they could break their fast.

Four months after the United States-brokered “ceasefire” came into effect in October, and as US President Donald Trump convened the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday, she wasn’t expecting to be sheltering with her family in an abandoned school and cooking on an open fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“Our preparations and expectations for Ramadan this month were that it would be better than previous ones during the war. Unfortunately, it is worse,” Nassar told Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.

Nassar’s family is one of many still living in schools and makeshift shelters throughout northern Gaza, relying on humanitarian aid for their basic needs and barely able to prepare a meal to break their fast, known as Iftar, due to gas shortages.

Nassar, her husband Thaer, and their seven children lived in Beit Hanoon, in the northeast, before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, which has killed more than 72,000 people, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health statistics.

They have since been displaced several times, from Beit Hanoon to Rafah and Khan Younis in the south.

The Nassar family is still waiting for a decision that would allow them to return home – or to what remains of it. This marks the third Ramadan that they have been living in a school, which, apart from the concrete walls, offers little shelter.

The children sleep not in beds, but directly on a classroom floor. The Nassar family’s only possessions comprise a few bags of clothes and some thin blankets.

Thaer said his children are afraid to go outside due to Israeli gunfire, in violation of the “ceasefire” agreement.

“My children live in fear, whether they go out into the street or stay here in the shelter. In the past, in better days, they had better times, playing ball, going to school, and then returning home.”

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the “ceasefire” came into effect.

While Palestinians have had little respite this Ramadan, Mahmoud said Palestinians remain steadfast.

“For many of the Palestinians sheltering inside this school, Iftar is a celebration of spiritual resilience, unbroken by Israel’s genocide and a future that is far from certain.”

South Korean stocks topped the 5,800-point mark for the first time Friday to end at a fresh record high amid expectations that upcoming investor-friendly measures will help lift market valuations. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 131.28 points, or 2.31 percent, to close at an all-time high of 5,803.53.

Trade volume was heavy at 1.73 billion shares worth 32.74 trillion won (US$22.64 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 543 to 340.

Institutions scooped up a net 1.61 trillion won worth of shares, while foreign and retail investors sold a net 745.06 billion won and 986.12 billion won worth of shares, respectively, for profit-taking.

After a three-day Lunar New Year holiday break, the index surged Thursday to top the 5,600 level, with experts saying pent-up demand accumulated during the holiday continued to flow into the stock market.

The KOSPI has been on a bull run recently, surpassing the 5,000 mark for the first time ever on Jan. 27 and the 5,500 level on Feb. 12.

“Geopolitical tensions have heightened after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled the possibility of military action against Iran following a 10-day negotiation deadline, and some analysts suggest the risk of a full-scale conflict is not negligible,” Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said.

“But investors have maintained expectations for a series of measures by the government and companies to boost shareholder returns and overall market valuations,” he added.

U.S. shares lost ground Thursday (U.S. time) amid concerns about the U.S.-Iran situation and risks linked to massive investments in artificial intelligence (AI), as the U.S. private market and alternative assets manager Blue Owl Capital announced it is going to tighten investor liquidity.

Most large-cap shares finished higher, with chip and defense shares leading the market advance.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.05 percent to 190,100 won, and chip giant SK hynix surged 6.15 percent to 949,000 won.

Carmakers traded mixed. Top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 0.78 percent to 509,000 won, while its sister affiliate Kia soared 1.06 percent to 171,800 won.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 0.5 percent to 401,500 won, but AI investment firm SK Square advanced 2.47 percent to 580,000 won.

Nuclear power plant builder Doosan Enerbility surged 5.18 percent to 103,500 won, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace spiked 8.09 percent to 1,242,000 won.

Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy jumped 4.88 percent to 602,000 won, and its rival Hanwha Ocean shot up 6.61 percent to 149,900 won.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics went up 0.93 percent to 1,736,000 won, while Celltrion dipped 1.02 percent to 242,000 won.

Financials gathered ground. KB Financial added 1.38 percent to 168,800 won, and Shinhan Financial grew 1.69 percent to 102,000 won.

Samsung Life Insurance climbed 4.78 percent to 219,000 won, and Mirae Asset Securities rose 0.57 percent to 70,900 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,446.65 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 1.15 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys lost 3.5 basis points to 3.143 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds also shed 3.5 basis points to 3.391 percent.

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Feb. 20 (UPI) — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has been tapped to give the Democratic response next week to President Donald Trump‘s State of the Union, the party’s leaders said.

Spanberger was announced as the Democratic speaker Thursday in a joint statement from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both from New York.

“Gov. Spanberger has always put service over politics — defending our national security and delivering real results for working families,” Schumer said.

“She knows real results for working families. She knows Americans want lower costs, safer communities and a stronger democracy — not chaos and corruption.”

Spanberger is a rising star in the Democratic Party. A former CIA officer, Spanberger ousted a Republican incumbent to win a U.S. House seat for her state in 2018.

After three terms in the chamber, she was elected in November as the first female governor of Virginia. Democrats are hoping her win flipping the governor’s mansion blue will help cement Virginia’s status as a Democratic-led state come the midterm elections.

Jeffries on Thursday praised the 46-year-old for standing “in stark contract to Donald Trump, who will lie, deflect and blame everyone but himself for his failed presidency on Tuesday evening,” which is when the president is scheduled to speak to a joint session of Congress.

“As our nation marks its 250th anniversary this summer, Gov. Spanberger embodies the best of America as a mother, community leader and dedicated public servant.”

The Democratic leaders also announced Thursday that Sen. Alex Padilla of California would deliver the Democratic response in Spanish.

“Americans don’t need another speech from Donald Trump pretending everything is fine when their bills are too high, paychecks are too low and masked and militarized federal agents are roaming our communities violating constitutional rights on a daily basis,” Padilla said in a statement Thursday on his selection to give the Democratic rebuttal.

“We refuse to accept his failed economic agenda that makes billionaires richer while middle class Americans see their healthcare costs rise. We refuse to accept a federal government that weaponizes enforcement agencies against immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. And we refuse to accept attacks on the right to vote.”

Padilla said “there is a better path” and that’s what his Tuesday speech will be about.

Trump’s address is to be held Tuesday, but at least 12 Democratic members of Congress are planning to boycott the speech and attend a competing rally organized by progressive organizations MoveOn and MeidasTouch.

The United States administration is intensifying its build-up of a vast array of military assets in the Middle East, as President Donald Trump says Iran has “10 to 15 days at most” to agree a deal over its nuclear programme and stock of ballistic missiles.

As well as the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, which is reportedly joining the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea, key force multipliers such as E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft have been deployed.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Iran said that while the country does not seek “tension or war and will not initiate a war”, any US aggression will be responded to “decisively and proportionately”.

“The United States would bear full and direct responsibility for any unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences,” it said.

Here is what we know about the recent US deployment of military assets in the Middle East – which has also led to a dispute with the United Kingdom over the use of its joint military base in Diego Garcia.

What air power assets has the US deployed to the Middle East?

According to open-source intelligence analysts and military flight-tracking data, the US appears to have deployed more than 120 aircraft to the region within the past few days – the largest surge in US airpower in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq war.

The reported deployments include E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, F-35 stealth strike fighters and F-22 air superiority jets, alongside F-15s and F-16s. Flight-tracking data shows many departing bases in the US and Europe, supported by cargo aircraft and aerial refuelling tankers, a sign of sustained operational planning rather than routine rotations.

F-22s and F-35s previously escorted B-2 stealth bombers during Operation Midnight Hammer, the US military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites Trump ordered in June 2025 during the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel.

“Watch any movement by B-2s. That would indicate a possible replay of ‘Midnight Hammer’,” Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, told Al Jazeera.

This latest wave was preceded several weeks ago by the arrival of Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles. US Central Command said on social media at the time that the fighter jet “enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability”.

What role could Diego Garcia and the UK play?

Attention has also focused on Diego Garcia, the joint UK-US military base in the Indian Ocean’s Chagos Islands, which is capable of hosting long-range US strategic bombers, including B-2 aircraft.

The remote base has historically served as a launch point for major US air campaigns in the region.

However, Diego Garcia is a British sovereign territory leased to Washington, meaning London must approve its use for offensive operations. According to reports in UK media, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has indicated to Trump that the US cannot use British airbases – including Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in the UK, which is home to the US’s heavy bomber fleet in Europe – for strikes on Iran, as this would be in breach of international law.

Trump retaliated by withdrawing US support for the UK’s decision to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, announced last year.

On Wednesday, the US president said Starmer was “making a big mistake” in the agreement to transfer sovereignty of the archipelago.

“DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, saying the base could be called upon in any future military operation to counter a potential attack from Iran.

What do we know about US warships in the Arabian Sea?

The USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, is currently being redeployed from the Caribbean to the Middle East.

The carrier and its accompanying strike group are expected to arrive in the region in the coming weeks.

On Wednesday, it briefly transmitted its location off the coast of Morocco, suggesting it is transiting the Atlantic towards the Strait of Gibraltar and will then go into the Mediterranean.

This is the same vessel that previously supported US military operations in Venezuela, including missions conducted under Operation Southern Spear.

The USS Gerald R Ford will join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which recent satellite imagery shows is operating in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman, positioning US naval power within striking distance of Iran.

The US Navy also has multiple guided-missile destroyers in the region equipped with advanced air defence and ballistic missile interception systems. These multi-role vessels can carry and launch Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of striking land targets deep inside Iran, alongside their anti-submarine and fleet defence missions.

How is Iran responding?

Iran has publicly warned that it will view any military strike by the US as a serious provocation.

Tehran has also moved ahead with its own planned military activities. It announced and began joint naval exercises with Russia in the Sea of Oman and northern Indian Ocean on Thursday. These are intended to enhance maritime cooperation and signal deterrence amid rising US pressure.

As part of these manoeuvres, Iranian authorities issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for rocket launches over southern Iran on Thursday from 03:30 to 13:30 GMT and temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically vital shipping route, during live-fire drills.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also warned that a US strike on Iran would have serious repercussions, underscoring the risk of escalation if hostilities spread.

Satellite images published by the Reuters news agency on Thursday showed that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel in 2024.

Images also show that Iran has buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the US during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances near another, and has repaired missile bases struck in the conflict.

Analytical reports also suggest that Iran has built a multilayered defence centred on mines, missiles, submarines and drones with the intent of slowing down the US forces.

Some analysts say Iran may seek to avoid an immediate full-scale confrontation, but this may be difficult.

“The Iranians have, over the past six months, quietly taken additional steps to move critical assets further underground,” Vali Nasr, a professor of international affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said during a roundtable discussion hosted by the CSIS Middle East Program this week

“They are going to be unpredictable,” he said. “But I think they could go big at the beginning, or they might want to drag the United States into a protracted situation.

“You hit a tanker, or you hit an oil facility, or you hit an American ship, and then it’s up to President Trump to decide whether to escalate further. And it can go beyond that.

“We are in a scenario where this might get out of control very quickly,” Nasr added.

Is the US likely to attack Iran?

According to experts, it is a very real possibility.

“The United States is doing all the things that it would do if it were going to conduct some sort of attack,” Cancian told Al Jazeera. “It has moved aircraft into the area, two aircraft carriers, plus enablers like AWACS.”

Barbara Slavi, distinguished fellow at Stimson Center, agreed with this assessment. “It seems that the Trump administration has decided that it is going to attack Iran again, and I presume in conjunction with the Israelis,” she said.

“What the objectives are, we have yet to see. Can it be contained? Will others be drawn in? These are all really important questions, and we don’t have answers.”

Is this a similar situation to what we saw earlier this year in Venezuela?

A build-up of US military assets in the Caribbean, close to Venezuela, which began in September 2025, led to multiple strikes on Venezuelan boats that the US claimed – without proof – were carrying drugs. It culminated in the dramatic January 3 raid on Caracas by US forces and the abduction of then-President Nicolas Maduro, who now faces trial on guns and drugs charges in New York.

“The build-up [in the Arabian Sea] has similarities, but one key difference is the strategic context,” Cancian said.

“Unlike the Venezuela raid, there hasn’t been a large deployment of Special Operations Forces, and Iran’s geography, far inland and heavily defended, makes a quick ground raid unlikely.

“If there are strikes, I would expect long-range missile attacks against security forces such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Strikes against nuclear facilities are also possible, but missiles like Tomahawk can only damage above-ground facilities,” he added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly planning to travel to Israel on February 28 to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a State Department official said.

Last summer, the US carried out air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities even as senior American diplomats were scheduled to meet with their Iranian counterparts in ongoing talks.

It is no longer possible to interpret the Yemeni landscape solely through the lens of politics. The developments witnessed in the southern Yemeni governorates under government control in recent months clearly indicate that security and military affairs have become the decisive factor in determining the course of power on the ground. Any governmental or political arrangements will be unsustainable unless the issue of security control and the unification of military command are resolved.

Nor can the escalating Saudi–Emirati rift between two allies who have militarily, politically and economically shaped southern Yemen in recent years be overlooked, given its direct impact on the balance of power and stability.

Over the past years, a complex security structure has taken shape across the southern governorates, comprising official units and others that emerged during the war. Some of these units are linked to state institutions, while others were established with Emirati support, such as the Southern Transitional Council’s forces, which number in the tens of thousands, or through local arrangements shaped by the circumstances of the conflict.

Although recent months have seen moves to restructure this landscape following the defeat of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which declared its dissolution in Hadhramaut and al-Mahra on January 3, 2026, security control remains uneven from one governorate to another. Furthermore, the STC’s security and military formations have not disappeared entirely; some have been redeployed, while the fate of others remains unknown.

In Aden, the temporary capital, security agencies operate within a complex structure. Some units formerly affiliated with the STC have seen their personnel and weapons disappear, while others have been renamed or redeployed. However, longstanding networks of influence remain, and the transfer of leadership or redeployment of camps reflects attempts to rebalance power rather than a definitive resolution of the situation.

The same applies, to varying degrees, to Lahij, Abyan, Dhale, Shabwah and Hadhramaut, where the state’s ability to assert effective authority varies, as does the level of coordination between official security forces and the formations that emerged during the war.

The most sensitive issue at this stage is the integration of military and security formations into the Ministries of Defence and Interior. The state seeks to end parallel security authority, but the process faces complex challenges, including differing sources of funding for some units, varying political loyalties, fears among some commanders of losing local influence, and considerations related to the composition of these forces. As a result, integration appears gradual, relying more on redeployment and restructuring than on decisive measures that could risk triggering confrontation.

The government now based in Aden, southern Yemen, finds itself facing a delicate equation: it must impose its security authority without plunging the country into renewed internal conflict.

The transition from multiple armed groups to a state monopoly on the use of force requires political consensus, regional support and international backing. Any hasty move could reignite internal clashes, particularly given existing political and regional sensitivities, as well as fears that the Saudi–Emirati dispute could once again trigger confrontation on the ground.

For this reason, government efforts are focused first on establishing a stable security environment.

This trajectory cannot be understood without considering the regional dimension. Saudi Arabia views Yemen as a direct strategic depth for its national security and seeks the emergence of a stable state along its southern border.

The dispute between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, particularly after Yemen requested the withdrawal of Emirati forces from its territory, has become a significant factor shaping the course of the crisis, especially amid Saudi accusations that Abu Dhabi continues to support the STC and consolidate its influence on the ground.

Yemen today is part of a broader regional landscape, intertwined with Red Sea dynamics and maritime routes, competition for influence in the Horn of Africa, and tensions stretching from Sudan to Somalia to the Gulf. For this reason, international actors — particularly the United States — are keen to keep the situation in Yemen under control, fearing that a security collapse could trigger intra-Gulf conflict, threaten international shipping, create space for a new wave of armed groups, or allow the Houthis to exploit the situation.

In the next phase, the government is likely to continue efforts to consolidate security control in Aden and other southern governorates, including Hadhramaut, which borders Saudi Arabia, while gradually integrating military units and maintaining political balances to prevent renewed conflict.

The success of these efforts will determine whether the country is moving towards gradual stability or another round of reshaping power centres. Given this reality, the central question remains: who truly possesses the ability to impose security on the ground, particularly as some actors continue to push the Southern Transitional Council towards escalation that could reignite the conflict?

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

More than 600 people may be in custody for political reasons, one Venezuelan rights group estimates.

Venezuela’s acting president has signed into law an amnesty bill that could see hundreds of politicians, activists and lawyers released soon, while tacitly acknowledging what the country has denied for years – that it has political detainees in jail.

The law, signed on Thursday, in effect reverses decades of denials in the government’s latest about-face since the United States military’s January 3 attack in the country’s capital, Caracas, and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro.

Opposition members, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and others who were targeted by the governing party over the past 27 years could benefit from the new law.

But families hoping for the release of relatives say acting President Delcy Rodriguez has failed to deliver on earlier promises to release prisoners. Some of them have been gathered outside detention centres for weeks.

Venezuela-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal has tallied 448 releases since January 8 and estimates that more than 600 people are still in custody for political reasons.

The new law provides amnesty for involvement in political protests and “violent actions” which took place during a brief coup in 2002 and during demonstrations or elections in certain months going back to 2004.

It does not detail the exact crimes which would be eligible for amnesty, though a previous draft laid out several, including instigation of illegal activity, resistance to authorities, rebellion and treason.

People convicted of “military rebellion” for involvement in events in 2019 are excluded. The law also does not return assets of those detained, revoke public office bans given for political reasons or cancel sanctions against media outlets.

Opposition divided

“It’s not perfect, but it is undoubtedly a great step forward for the reconciliation of Venezuela,” opposition politician Nora Bracho said during a debate on the bill in the legislature on Thursday.

But the law was criticised by other members of the opposition, including Pedro Urruchurtu, international relations director for opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado.

“A true amnesty doesn’t require laws, but rather will, something that is lacking in this discussion,” he said on X on Thursday. “It is not only an invalid and illegitimate law, but also a trap to buy time and revictimize those persecuted.”

Since Madura’s abduction, US President Donald Trump has praised Rodriguez, Maduro’s former deputy, while downplaying the prospect of supporting the opposition.

For her part, Rodriguez has overseen several concessions to the US, including freezing oil shipments to Cuba and supporting a law to open the state-controlled oil industry to foreign companies.

The US has said it will control the proceeds ⁠from Venezuela’s oil sales until a “representative government” is established.