Category: Foreign

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New protests hit Iran as alarm grows over crackdown ‘massacre’

Iranians took to the streets in new protests against the clerical authorities overnight despite an internet shutdown, as rights groups warned on Sunday that authorities were committing a “massacre” to quell the demonstrations.

The protests, initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, have now become a movement against the theocratic government that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution and have already lasted two weeks.

The mass rallies are one of the biggest challenges to the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, coming in the wake of Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June, which was backed by the United States.

The protests, initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, have now become a movement against the theocratic government that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution and have already lasted two weeks.

The mass rallies are one of the biggest challenges to the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, coming in the wake of Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June, which was backed by the United States.

The internet blackout “is now past the 60 hour mark… The censorship measure presents a direct threat to the safety and well-being of Iranians at a key moment for the country’s future”, monitor Netblocks said early Sunday.

Several circulating videos, which have not been verified by AFP, allegedly showed relatives in a Tehran morgue identifying bodies of protesters killed in the crackdown.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had confirmed the deaths of 116 people in connection with the protests, including 37 members of the security forces or other officials.

But activists warned that the shutdown was limiting the flow of information and the actual toll risks being far higher.

The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said it had received “eyewitness accounts and credible reports indicating that hundreds of protesters have been killed across Iran during the current internet shutdown”.

“A massacre is unfolding in Iran. The world must act now to prevent further loss of life,” it said.

It said hospitals were “overwhelmed”, blood supplies were running low and that many protesters had been shot in the eyes in a deliberate tactic.

In comments to state TV late Saturday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni insisted that acts of “vandalism” were decreasing and warned that “those who lead the protest towards destruction, chaos and terrorist acts do not let the people’s voices be heard”.

National police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said authorities made “significant” arrests of protest figures on Saturday night, without giving details on the number or identities of those arrested, according to state TV.

Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani drew a line between protests over economic hardship, which he called “completely understandable”, and “riots”, accusing them of actions “very similar to the methods of terrorist groups”, Tasnim news agency reported.

In Tehran, an AFP journalist described a city in a state of near paralysis.

The price of meat has nearly doubled since the start of the protests, and while some shops are open, many others are not.

Those that do open must close at around 4:00 or 5:00 pm, when security forces deploy in force.

On Saturday, mobile phone lines appeared to have gone down as well, rendering nearly all communication impossible.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the ousted shah, who has played a prominent role in calling for the protests, called for new actions later Sunday.

“Do not abandon the streets. My heart is with you. I know that I will soon be by your side,” he said.

US President Donald Trump has spoken out in support of the protests and threatened military action against Iranian authorities “if they start killing people”.

On Sunday, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would hit back if the US launched military action.

“In the event of a military attack by the United States, both the occupied territory and centres of the US military and shipping will be our legitimate targets,” he said in comments broadcast by state TV.

He was apparently also referring to Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognise and considers occupied Palestinian territory. (Channels)

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UK, France pledge ‘reassurance force’ for Ukraine after Russia ceasefire

Key European allies pledged to send a “reassurance force” to Ukraine in a move described as a significant step in the effort to end Russia’s nearly four-year invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a declaration of intent on Tuesday for the deployment of multinational forces to support Kyiv’s defence and reconstruction – if a ceasefire with Russia is agreed on.

The announcement follows a meeting of more than two dozen countries in Paris. The nations dubbed the “coalition of the willing” have explored for months how to deter any future Russian aggression should it agree to stop fighting Ukraine.

There was no immediate response from Russia, however. President Vladimir Putin has ruled out any deployment of troops from NATO countries on Ukrainian soil.

Kyiv has long said it cannot be safe without guarantees that are comparable to the NATO alliance’s ‍mutual defence agreement Article 5 to deter Russia from attacking again.

Zelenskyy welcomed the promised security guarantees for Ukraine.

“It’s important that today the coalition has substantive documents. These are not just words. There is concrete content: a joint declaration by all the coalition countries and a trilateral declaration by France, Britain, and Ukraine,” he said.

“It has been defined how those forces will be managed and at what levels command will be exercised,” Zelensky added.

Macron said “several thousand” French soldiers could be deployed to Ukraine to maintain peace.

“These are not forces that will be engaged in combat,” Macron told France 2 television on the sidelines of the summit, calling such a deployment “a force of reassurance”.

Starmer said allies will participate in US-led monitoring and verification of any ceasefire, support the long-term provision of armaments for Ukraine’s defence.

The UK and France will “establish military hubs across Ukraine and build protected facilities for weapons and military equipment to support Ukraine’s defensive needs” – in the event of a peace deal with Russia, he added.

Starmer said peace in Ukraine ⁠is closer than ever though ​the “hardest yards” still ‍lay ahead.

US ‍envoy ‍Steve Witkoff said there was significant progress made on ​several critical issues facing ‍Ukraine including security guarantees and a “prosperity plan”. Security ‍protocols for Ukraine are “largely ⁠finished”, he added.

“We agree ‍with ⁠the coalition that durable security guarantees and robust prosperity commitments are essential to ​a lasting peace ‌in the Ukraine, and we will continue to ‌work together on this effort,” ‌Witkoff said ⁠in a post on X after talks in ‌Paris.

Ukraine’s ‍reconstruction ‍is inextricably linked to security guarantees, German ⁠Chancellor Friedrich Merz ​said.

“Economic strength will ‍be indispensable ⁠to guarantee that Ukraine will continue to credibly block ​Russia ‌in the future,” Merz said.

However, he noted Ukraine and its European allies will have to accept “compromises” to achieve a peace deal.

“We will certainly have to make compromises” to end the nearly four-year-old war. “We will not achieve textbook diplomatic solutions,” said Merz.

Moscow has revealed few details of its stance in the US-led peace negotiations. Officials have reaffirmed Russia’s demands and insisted there can be no ceasefire until a comprehensive settlement is agreed. (AlJazeera)

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Venezuela Interim Leader says no foreign power running country

Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez insisted Tuesday no foreign power was governing her country, after US President Donald Trump said Washington would “run” it pending a transition after ousting her predecessor.

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

Rodriguez on Tuesday got down to the business of running the country, under pressure from Washington to give access to Caracas’s oil while trying to keep supporters of ousted Nicolas Maduro on her side.

Former deputy president Rodriguez, 56, was sworn in as acting leader Monday, as Maduro appeared in a New York court, where he pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and “narco-terrorism.”

His wife, Cilia Flores, who was snatched with him by US special forces from a military base in Caracas on Saturday during a bombing raid, also pleaded not guilty.

Rodriguez, whom US President Donald Trump has indicated he is willing to work with, faces a delicate balancing act.

She has suggested that she will cooperate with Washington, which wants to tap Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.

But she has also sought to project unity with the hardliners in Maduro’s administration, who control the security forces and powerful paramilitaries.

Venezuela’s journalists’ union said Tuesday that 14 journalists and media workers, most of them representing foreign media, were detained while covering the presidential inauguration at parliament on Monday and later released.

Two other journalists for foreign media were detained near the Colombian border and later released, it added.

Thousands of people marched through Caracas in support of Maduro on Monday and further demonstrations were planned on Tuesday.

On Monday, Rodriguez told the opening of parliament she was “in pain over the kidnapping of our heroes, the hostages in the United States,” referring to Maduro and Flores.

The session turned into an impromptu rally for “Chavismo” — the anti-US, socialist policies of late firebrand leader Hugo Chavez and his anointed heir Maduro.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been given no role by Washington in the post-Maduro transition, warned in a Fox News interview that Rodriguez was not to be trusted.

“Delcy Rodriguez as you know is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narcotrafficking,” she said.

“She’s the main ally and liaison with Russia, China, Iran, certainly not an individual that could be trusted by international investors.”

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate vowed to return home “as soon as possible” from her current undisclosed location outside the country.

Trump has so far backed Rodriguez, but warned she would pay “a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she does not comply with Washington’s agenda.

So far she has made no changes to the cabinet, with Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, widely seen as wielding the real power in Venezuela, retaining their posts.

“Delcy had better be sleeping with one eye open right now because right behind her are two men who would be more than happy to cut her throat and take control themselves,” Brian Naranjo, a former US diplomat who was previously stationed in Venezuela, told AFP.

Venezuelan political analyst Mariano de Alba agreed that the new government was “unstable,” but said that Chavismo had understood that “only through apparent cohesion can they keep themselves in power.” (Channels)

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Tesla loses title as world’s biggest electric vehicle maker as sales fall for second year in a row

Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker on Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk’s right-wing politics, expiring U.S. tax breaks for buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row.

Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from a year earlier.

Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles last year, is now the biggest EV maker.

It’s a stunning reversal for a car company whose rise once seemed unstoppable as it overtook traditional automakers with far more resources and helped make Musk the world’s richest man.

For the fourth quarter, sales totaled 418,227, falling short of even the much reduced 440,000 target that analysts recently polled by FactSet had expected. Sales were hit hard by the expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September.

Tesla stock was down nearly 3% at $436.85 in afternoon trading Friday.

Even with multiple issues buffeting the company, investors are betting that Tesla CEO Musk can deliver on his ambitions to make Tesla a leader in robotaxi services and get consumers to embrace humanoid robots that can perform basic tasks in homes and offices. Reflecting that optimism, the stock finished 2025 with a gain of approximately 11%.

The latest quarter was the first with sales of stripped-down versions of the Model Y and Model 3 that Musk unveiled in early October as part of an effort to revive sales. The new Model Y costs just under $40,000 while customers can buy the cheaper Model 3 for under $37,000. Those versions are expected to help Tesla compete with Chinese models in Europe and Asia.

For fourth-quarter earnings coming out in late January, analysts are expecting the company to post a 3% drop in sales and a nearly 40% drop in earnings per share, according to FactSet. Analysts expect the downward trend in sales and profits to eventually reverse itself as 2026 rolls along.

Investors have largely shrugged off the falling numbers, choosing to focus on Musk’s pivot to different parts of business. He has been saying the future of the company lies with its driverless robotaxis service, its energy storage business and building robots for the home and factory — and much less with car sales.

Tesla started rolling out its robotaxi service in Austin earlier this year, first with safety monitors in the cars to take over in case of trouble, then testing without them. The company hopes to roll out the service in several cities this year.

To do that successfully, it needs to take on rival Waymo, which has been operating autonomous taxis for years and has far more customers. It also will also have to contend with regulatory challenges. The company is under several federal safety investigations and other probes. In California, Tesla is at risk of temporarily losing its license to sell cars in the state after a judge there ruled it had misled customers about their safety.

“Regulatory is going to be a big issue,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a well-known bull on the stock. “We’re dealing with people’s lives.”

Still, Ives said he expects Tesla’s autonomous offerings will soon overcome any setbacks.

Musk has said he hopes software updates to his cars will enable hundreds of thousands of Tesla vehicles to operate autonomously with zero human intervention by the end of this year. The company is also planning to begin production of its AI-powered Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals in 2026.

To keep Musk focused on the company, Tesla’s directors awarded Musk a potentially enormous new pay package that shareholders backed at the annual meeting in November.

Musk scored another huge windfall two weeks ago when the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a decision that deprived him of a $55 billion pay package that Tesla doled out in 2018.

Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire later this year when he sells shares of his rocket company SpaceX to the public for the first time in what analysts expect would be a blockbuster initial public offering. (JapanToday)

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Trump threatens Iran over protest crackdown as deadly unrest flares

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fired on them, days into unrest that has left several dead and posed the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years.

“We are locked and loaded ‌and ready to go,” he said in a social media post. The United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June, joining an Israeli air campaign that targeted Tehran’s atomic programme and military leadership.

Responding to Trump’s comments, top Iranian official Ali Larijani warned that U.S. interference in domestic Iranian issues would amount to a destabilization of the entire Middle East. Iran backs proxy ⁠forces in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

The comments came as a local official in western Iran, where several deaths were ‍reported, was cited by state media as warning that any unrest or illegal gatherings would be met “decisively and without leniency”.

This week’s protests over soaring inflation ‍are so far smaller than some previous bouts of unrest in Iran, but have spread across the country, with deadly confrontations between demonstrators and security forces ⁠focused in western provinces.

State-affiliated media and rights groups have reported at least 10 deaths since Wednesday, including one man who authorities said was a member of the Basij paramilitary force affiliated with the elite Revolutionary Guards.

The Islamic Republic’s clerical leadership has ​seen off repeated eruptions of unrest in recent decades, often quelling protests with heavy security measures and mass arrests. But economic problems may leave authorities more vulnerable now.

This week’s protests are the biggest since nationwide demonstrations triggered by the death of a young woman in custody in 2022 paralyzed Iran for weeks, with rights groups reporting hundreds killed.

Trump did not specify what sort of action the U.S. could take in support of the protests.

Washington has long imposed broad financial sanctions on Tehran, in particular since Trump’s first term when, in 2018, he pulled the U.S. out of ⁠Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and declared a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

Video verified by Reuters showed dozens of people gathered in front of a burning police station overnight, as gunshots sporadically rang out and people shouted “shameless, shameless” at the authorities.

In the southern city of Zahedan, where Iran’s Baluch minority predominates, the human rights news group Hengaw reported that protesters had chanted slogans including “Death to the dictator”.

Hengaw has reported at least 80 arrests so far over the unrest, mostly in the west, and including 14 members of Iran’s Kurdish minority.

State television also reported the arrest of an unspecified number of people in another western city, Kermanshah, accused of manufacturing petrol bombs and homemade pistols. Iranian media also said two heavily armed individuals were arrested in central and western Iran before they could carry out attacks.

The deaths acknowledged by official or semi-official Iranian media have been in the small western cities of Lordegan and Kuhdasht. Hengaw also reported that a man was killed in Fars province in central Iran, though state news sites denied this.

Rights groups and social media posts reported protests in a number of cities late on Friday.

Reuters could not verify all the reports of unrest, arrests or deaths.

Trump spoke a few days after he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime advocate of military action against Iran, and warned of ​fresh strikes if Tehran resumed nuclear or ballistic work.

The Israeli and U.S. strikes in June last year have cranked up the pressure on Iranian authorities, as have the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, a close Tehran ally, and the Israeli pounding of its main regional partner, Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Iran continues to ⁠support groups in Iraq that have previously fired rockets at U.S. forces in the country, as well as the Houthi group that controls much of northern Yemen.

“American people should know that Trump started the adventurism. They ought to watch over their soldiers,” said Larijani, the head of Iran’s National Security Council and a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

During the latest unrest, Iran’s elected President Masoud Pezeshkian has struck a conciliatory tone, pledging dialogue with protest leaders over the cost-of-living crisis, even as rights ‌groups said security forces had fired on demonstrators.

Speaking on ‌Thursday, before Trump threatened U.S. action, Pezeshkian acknowledged that failings by the authorities ‍were behind the crisis.

“We are to blame… Do not look for America or anyone else to blame. We must serve properly so that people are satisfied with us…. It is us who ‌have to find a solution to these problems,” he said.

Pezeshkian’s government is trying a program of economic liberalization, but ‍one of its measures, deregulating some currency exchange, has contributed to a sharp decline in the value of Iran’s rial on the unofficial market.

The sliding currency has compounded inflation, which has hovered above 36% since March even by official estimates, in an economy battered by Western sanctions. (JapanToday)

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China’s foreign minister criticizes Takaichi for challenging sovereignty

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday lashed out at Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for “openly challenging” Chinese territorial sovereignty after the Japanese leader’s remark on a Taiwan emergency heightened bilateral tensions.

Wang, speaking at a symposium in Beijing, also said that Japan has failed to “deeply reflect” on its wartime past, including its invasion of China.

Japan’s current leadership has been “openly challenging China’s territorial sovereignty, the historical conclusions of World War II, and the postwar international order,” Wang said.

Japan invaded a vast swath of China before World War II. The Asian neighbors have been at odds over wartime history among other issues.

Sino-Japanese relations have worsened since Takaichi, seen as a security hawk, said in early November that a Taiwan emergency could be a “survival-threatening” situation for Japan and prompt a response by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.

China sees Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Wang’s remarks came as China conducted military drills in five areas encircling self-ruled Taiwan in a warning against separatism and external interference. (JapanToday)

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Swiss bar blaze suspicions fall on sparklers waved by staff

Moments before flames and smoke engulfed the bar in Switzerland where 40 people died, staff were seen holding aloft sparklers stuck in Champagne bottles, videos posted online showed.

The mini-fireworks were being waved near the basement bar’s low wooden ceiling, covered in thin soundproofing fabric, according to the images on social media.

One video showed the ceiling catching alight and the flames spreading quickly — but revelers initially continuing to dance, unaware of the death trap they were in.

A young man is seen attempting to extinguish the flames with a large white cloth.

Authorities investigating the deadly blaze said they suspected that “sparklers or Bengal candles” sparked the fire.

Witness accounts later relayed to various media said the sparkler parade was a regular “show” for patrons in the bar, which typically drew a young crowd.

The flames spread with terrifying speed in the bar, in the Swiss luxury ski resort town Crans-Montana, which was packed with New Year’s Eve partygoers.

The video which showed the ceiling catching fire went to on capture a scene of panic: people scrambling and screaming in the dark as smoke and flames around them grew bigger.

Elliot Alvarez, a local who had been at a next-door bar with friends, told AFP: “We received a call from a friend who was clearly panicked on the phone and explained that there had apparently been an explosion.”

When he and his friends arrived at the scene, they found the place crawling with emergency responders and “people on the ground being treated, people coming out, burned”.

Police commander Frederic Gisler told reporters that “the red alarm, which mobilizes the fire department, was triggered” immediately when authorities were alerted to the situation.

Passers-by shortly, before 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, had seen smoke coming out of the centrally located bar and called the emergency services.

Less than a minute later, at 1:32 a.m., the first police patrols arrived on the scene. Firefighters and other emergency workers also rushing in.

At that time, inside the bar, flames had engulfed the basement. Smoke was everywhere, also filling the first floor, according to videos.

Outside, bystanders could see flames, later describing scenes of chaos as people tried to break the windows to escape and others, covered in burns, poured into the street.

Young patrons in the bar, disoriented by the smoke and panic, tried to escape through the front door, causing a crush at the exit.

Nathan, who had been in the bar before the blaze, saw burned people streaming out of the site.

“They were asking for help, crying out for help,” he said.

Adrien, a young vacationer from Dijon, France, described on TikTok how he “saw people breaking windows with chairs”.

“They were in a terrible state, covered in blood, their clothes melted … It was a catastrophe.”

Leandre, who was outside, told the Blick newspaper of the “very sad” scene, with “people burned beyond recognition”.

“We tried to rescue them as best we could … tried to cover them, because they had no clothes left,” he said.

“It was really difficult. We tried to pull people out who were conscious, people who were unconscious, and get them to a warm place.”

He said that even the rescue workers “were overwhelmed”, because everything happened so quickly, with “people who were burned alive”.

Edmond Cocquyt, a Belgian tourist, told AFP he saw bodies “covered with a white sheet” and “young people, totally burned, who were still alive … screaming in pain”.

After emergency units at local hospitals filled, many of the injured were transported across Switzerland, and beyond.

Outside a Milan hospital, Umberto Marcucci told reporters he was “thanking the heavens” that his son Manfredi — one of four Italians being treated at the hospital — made it out alive.

“My son is sick but he’s fine, he’s alive,” he said. Manfredi, he said, had been at Le Constellation with many friends and escaped with “burns on 30 to 40 percent of his body”.

“He told me that at a certain point, someone yelled ‘fire’ in the bar area… and from there the fire spread incredibly quickly.” (JapanToday)

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Trump says U.S. has captured Venezuela President Maduro

The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, had been captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.

Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas, the capital, as Maduro’s government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.

It was not immediately clear who was running the country, and Maduro’s whereabouts were not immediately known. Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. Under Venezuelan law the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike.

“We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life.”

Maduro, Trump said, “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow.” He set a news conference for later Saturday morning.

The legal implications of the strike under U.S. law were not immediately clear. Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who briefed him on the strike. Rubio told Lee that Maduro “has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”

The White House did not immediately respond to queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges in the Southern District of New York.

Maduro last appeared on state television Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.

The explosions in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, early on the third day of 2026 — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties on either side. The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and it was unclear if more actions lay ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out “successfully.”

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace because of “ongoing military activity” ahead of the explosions.

The strike came after the Trump administration spent months escalating pressure on Maduro. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.

For months, Trump had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land following months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs. Maduro has decried the U.S. military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power.

Some streets in Caracas fill up

Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.

Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by The Associated Press.

Smoke was seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

Venezuela’s government responded to the attack with a call to action. “People to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.

The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”

“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said. (JapanToday)

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Peace hopes dented as Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Putin residence

Russia accused Ukraine on Monday of trying to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northern Russia, although it provided no evidence to back up an assertion that Kyiv dismissed as baseless and designed to undermine peace negotiations.

The angry exchanges – including a statement by Russia that it was reviewing its stance ‌in negotiations in response to the attack – dealt a new blow to prospects for peace in Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Putin had told him about the alleged attack in a phone call on Monday morning, which had angered him. Still, Trump repeated his belief that a peace deal may be near.

“It’s one thing to be offensive,” Trump told reporters. “It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the ⁠right time to do any of that. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about ‍it.”

On Sunday, Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida and the U.S. president said they were “getting a lot closer, maybe very ‍close” to an agreement to end the ‍war, although “thorny” territorial issues remained.

On Monday, Putin struck a defiant tone, telling his army to press on with a campaign to take full control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. ⁠The Kremlin repeated demands for Kyiv to pull its forces out of the last part of the Donbas area that they still hold in eastern Ukraine.

Putin told Trump in Monday’s phone call that Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, was reviewing its stance following the ​reported drone attack, an aide said.

After the call with Putin, Trump told reporters outside his home in Palm Beach, Florida, that he had no further information about the alleged attack.

“I don’t like it, it’s not good,” Trump said. Asked if U.S. intelligence agencies had evidence of such an attack, Trump said: “We’ll find out.”

Trump said the conversation with Putin was productive.

“We have a couple of issues that we’re going to get resolved, hopefully, and if we get them resolved, you’re going to have peace,” Trump said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine had tried to attack Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region west ⁠of Moscow on December 28-29 with 91 long-range drones which were all destroyed by Russian air defenses. No one was injured and there was no damage, he said in comments reported by Russian media.

“Such reckless actions will not go unanswered,” Lavrov said in a statement, describing the attack as “state terrorism” and adding that targets had already been selected for retaliatory strikes by Russia’s armed forces.

Lavrov did not offer any evidence for his assertions in his statement. It was not clear where Putin was at the time.

Lavrov said the attack took place during negotiations about a possible peace deal, and said Russia would review its negotiating stance but not quit the negotiations.

Denying Ukraine had planned such an attack, Zelenskyy accused Russia of preparing the ground to strike government buildings in Kyiv, saying Russia wanted to undermine progress at U.S.-Ukrainian talks on ending the war.

“Another round of lies from the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy told reporters via WhatsApp. “It is clear that we had a meeting with Trump yesterday, and it is clear that for the Russians, if there is no scandal between us and America, and we are making progress – for them it is a failure, because they do not want to end this war.”

He added: “I am sure they are simply preparing the ground for strikes, probably on the capital, probably on government buildings.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media the attack was a fabrication intended to create a pretext for more Russian attacks on Ukraine and to undermine the peace ​process. He urged world leaders to condemn Russia over its accusations. (JapanToday)

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Nine arrested in Italy for allegedly raising millions for Hamas

Italian police have arrested nine people accused of raising around €7m (£6m) for Hamas over more than two years.

The money was ostensibly collected as humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians, a police statement said, but was instead sent to the militant group via a “complex fundraising system”.

Alongside the arrests, police say they have seized more than €8m (£7m) in assets as part of the investigation.

Police say the suspects are “specifically accused of carrying out financing operations believed to have contributed to terrorist activities”.

The arrests were made as part of a joint initiative between Italy’s counter-terror police and financial police.

The investigation began after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack in southern Israel.

Police say they analysed “a series of reports of suspicious financial transactions” involving some of the suspects in the lead up to the attack.

Investigators uncovered a “complex” system of fundraising, which was headquartered in Genoa with branches in Milan, the statement adds.

“The suspects collected donations intended for the civilian population of Gaza, however, it emerged that over 71% of these funds were diverted to Hamas’s coffers to finance its military wing and support the families of suicide bombers or those detained for terrorism,” the police statement says.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the most well-known of the arrested suspects was Mohammad Hannoun, the president of the Palestinian Association in Italy.

Piantedosi thanked police for their work in a post on X, but also noted that “the presumption of innocence… must always be recognised at this stage”.

Mr Hannoun said that he is “neither closely nor remotely” related to Hamas but has always supported them.

“I have always declared with utmost transparency that I am a Palestinian citizen and publicly support the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people,” he told reporters. (BBC)