Canada’s Mark Carney seeks reset on pivotal trip to China
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in China for a visit that comes at a pivotal moment in relations between the two countries. Carney, the first Canadian leader to visit China since 2017, is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Relations between Canada and China plunged into a deep freeze after Canadian authorities arrested a key official of Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei as she was transitioning through the Vancouver international airport in December 2018. China retaliated against the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, which was carried out at the request of authorities in the United States, by detaining two Canadians. Relations have continued to face challenges. In 2024, Ottawa, following a line set by Washington, slapped Chinese electric vehicles with 100 percent tariffs, prompting Beijing to impose tariffs on certain Canadian agricultural goods, including canola. Ottawa has also accused China of political interference. Against that backdrop, Carney’s visit “marks a recalibration and change in tone and signals Canada’s desire to improve relations”, said Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. “This is probably Prime Minister Carney’s second-most challenging trip after his first visit to the White House,” Nadjibulla told Al Jazeera. Carney is keen to diversify the Canadian economy and reduce its dependence on the US, the destination for nearly 80 percent of Canadian exports. While Canada has historically been among the US’s closest allies, the relationship has gone south since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Advertisement Trump has slapped Canada with a 35 percent across-the-board tariff and separate duties on steel, aluminium and lumber, while repeatedly threatening to make the country the 51st US state. Carney has travelled extensively, including to the European Union and the Gulf – he heads to Qatar after Beijing – to find new markets and investors for the economy. The Canadian leader has said he wants to double Canada’s non-US trade in the next decade. In a first step towards a thaw with China, Carney met Xi in South Korea during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in October. “The Prime Minister is being pragmatic, and his trip will focus on specific economic deals – selling Canadian energy and agriculture products,” Nadjibulla said, adding that she did not expect to see the full lifting of tariffs between the sides. The trip, as a review of the trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada, is under way. The USMCA has allowed Canadian and Mexican goods that are covered under the agreement to enter the US tariff-free. In Canada’s case, that means about 86 percent of US imports from Canada and Mexico are compliant, making the effective tariff rate on Canadian goods about 6 percent, Tony Stillo, director of Canada Economics at Oxford Economics, said in a note on Wednesday. While Canada clearly would benefit from USMCA continuing, Trump, as recently as Tuesday, said the trade agreement was “irrelevant” to the US. But if an agreement to extend or modify the USMCA is not reached, it will enter a period of mandatory annual reviews until 2036, after which it would expire, resulting in a “prolonged period of trade policy uncertainty”, Stillo said. “If the North American trade agreement eventually disintegrates, the three parties could return to bilateral trade agreements to maintain market access to one another, but this would impose costs on North American trade and investments.” ‘Political and narrative win’ While Carney is keenly aware of the stakes, the visit holds significance for China, too. Beijing is not only on the lookout for new export markets and the removal of trade restrictions, such as the electric vehicle tariff, but a “political and narrative win” as well, Nadjibulla said. China has often criticised Canada for following the US too closely and will portray Carney’s visit, and any policy changes that may follow, as Ottawa “trying to correct mistakes of the past,” she said. Beijing’s ultimate hope would be compliance from Canada on sensitive issues like Taiwan and the South China Sea. Earlier this week, two Canadian MPs from Carney’s Liberal Party wrapped up a visit to self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, ahead of schedule on the advice of the government. Advertisement The lawmakers cited the need to avoid “confusion” in Canada’s foreign policy ahead of Carney’s visit. Nadjibulla said it was a “worrying” development, adding that Canada would face a “very difficult balancing act” with China. Adblock test (Why?)
Russian attacks cause energy emergency in freezing Ukraine, says Zelenskyy
Ukraine struggles to restore heat, electricity as temperatures plummet to -19 degrees Celsius. Published On 15 Jan 202615 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that a state of emergency is being declared for Ukraine’s energy sector, as repeated Russian attacks have left thousands of homes without heat and electricity amid freezing winter conditions. Zelenskyy’s announcement came as temperatures dropped to -19 degrees Celsius (-2.2 Fahrenheit) in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, where hundreds of apartment buildings remain without heat following a massive Russian attack last week. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “The consequences of Russian strikes and deteriorating weather conditions are severe,” said Zelenskyy in a post on X late on Wednesday, adding that “repair crews, energy companies, municipal services, and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine continue to work around the clock to restore electricity and heating”. Zelenskyy also said he had asked his government to review curfew restrictions during “this extremely cold weather” and that the country was working to increase its electricity imports to try to alleviate the dire situation. In Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, 471 apartment buildings remained without heat on Wednesday, almost a week after a Russian attack left thousands of apartments without heat, electricity and water, according to city officials. Electricians carry out emergency repairs on a power pole after a transformer burned out due to a voltage surge caused by regular Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Wednesday [Dan Bashakov/AP Photo] The attack, which began last Thursday night, prompted Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko to urge people to leave the city, saying that “half of apartment buildings in Kyiv – nearly 6,000 – are currently without heating because the capital’s critical infrastructure was damaged by the enemy’s massive attack”. Advertisement Energy supply has been a frequent target during Russia’s war on Ukraine, with Moscow and Kyiv launching attacks on oil refineries, gas pipelines, pumping stations and nuclear and thermal power stations, which are powered by coal, oil and gas. Russian-appointed local official Yevhen Balitsky said on Telegram on Wednesday that a Ukrainian attack had left more than 3,000 people without electricity in Russian-occupied areas of Zaporizhia. A screen displays a temperature of -14C in Kyiv on Wednesday [Sergei Gapon/AFP] Black Sea attacks The frequent attacks on energy supply during Russia’s war with Ukraine have also expanded beyond both countries’ borders, including to oil tankers in the Black Sea. In recent months, a number of oil tankers have come under attack from drones in the Black Sea, prompting concerns from neighbouring countries, including Turkiye and Kazakhstan. On Tuesday, drones struck two oil tankers in the Black Sea, chartered by United States oil giant Chevron, according to the companies involved. The ships were sailing towards a terminal on the Russian coast, with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday blaming the attacks on Ukraine, which had yet to publicly comment. Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that three oil tankers were hit in the attack and that they were heading to a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal, where an oil pipeline from the central Asian country ends. The ministry urged the US and Europe to help secure the transport of oil. “The increasing frequency of such incidents highlights the growing risks to the functioning of international energy infrastructure,” it said. Adblock test (Why?)
Venezuela’s Rodriguez vows release of more prisoners, holds call with Trump
Trump showers acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez with praise after first phone call since the US military’s abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. Published On 15 Jan 202615 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez has pledged to continue releasing prisoners detained under the presidency of Nicolas Maduro and described her first phone call with United States President Donald Trump since Maduro’s abduction by US forces as positive. Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, said on Wednesday that she had a long, productive and courteous phone call with the US president, in which the two discussed a bilateral agenda that would benefit both countries. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, said the two discussed oil, minerals, trade and national security, describing how “this partnership” between the US and Venezuela would be “spectacular”. “I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump said at the White House after the lengthy call, describing Rodriguez as a “terrific person”, adding that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had also been in touch with the acting president. Trump’s praise of Rodriguez follows after President Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were abducted by the US military in an attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on January 3. Maduro and Flores are now being held in prison in the US. Trump said last week that a second wave of US attacks on Venezuela had been cancelled amid “cooperation” from leaders in Caracas, including the release of a large number of prisoners as a sign of “seeking peace” with Washington. Earlier on Wednesday, during her first media briefing since Maduro’s abduction, Rodriguez said Venezuela was entering a “new political moment” and the process of releasing detainees “has not yet concluded”. Advertisement “This opportunity is for Venezuela and for the people of Venezuela to be able to see reflected a new moment where coexistence, where living together, where recognition of the other allows building and erecting a new spirituality,” Rodriguez said in her address. Flanked by her brother and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, the acting president also pledged “strict” enforcement of the law and credited Maduro with already initiating the release of prisoners. “Messages of hatred, intolerance, acts of violence will not be permitted,” Rodriguez said. The renewed promise to continue freeing prisoners followed after Jorge Rodriguez announced in parliament on Tuesday that more than 400 detainees had been freed recently. While Venezuelan authorities deny that they hold political prisoners, the release of people held for political reasons in Venezuela has been a long-running call of rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures. Rights groups in recent days have criticised the slow release of prisoners by the post-Maduro leadership. Trump is scheduled to meet on Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at the White House, their first in-person meeting since the abduction of Maduro. Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, has offered to give Trump her prize, but the Nobel Committee said the Peace Prize cannot be transferred. Adblock test (Why?)
Are western leaders guilty of hypocrisy over calls for free speech in Iran?
NewsFeed Western leaders are condemning Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests, but many of those same nations are accused of suppressing their own citizens’ protest rights. Al Jazeera’s Nada Qaddourah looks at the allegations of double standards. Published On 14 Jan 202614 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Uganda faces mounting calls to end internet blackout before elections
Amnesty International says internet blackout ‘especially alarming’ as election campaign ‘marred by massive repression’. Published On 14 Jan 202614 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Uganda is facing mounting calls to lift a nationwide internet blackout before a contentious election, with the United Nations saying the government-imposed restrictions are “deeply worrying”. In a social media post on Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Office stressed that “open access to communication & information is key to free & genuine elections”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “All Ugandans must be able to take part in shaping their future & the future of their country,” it said. The call comes a day after a Ugandan government regulatory body instructed mobile network operators to block public internet access, starting on Tuesday evening, as the East African country readied for a January 15 general election. Internet monitor NetBlocks said in its latest update on Wednesday that Uganda was “in the midst of a widespread internet shutdown”. “Far from halting misinformation, the measure is likely to limit transparency and increase the risk of vote fraud,” the group warned. The government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, 81, has been accused of overseeing a years-long crackdown on its critics, arresting political opposition leaders and their supporters. Museveni is being challenged in Thursday’s vote by pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, whose campaign rallies have been routinely disrupted by the Ugandan authorities. The UN Human Rights Office last week warned that Ugandans would be heading to the polls amid “widespread repression and intimidation against the political opposition, human rights defenders, journalists and those with dissenting views”. Advertisement The Uganda Communications Commission defended the internet shutdown as necessary to curb “misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks”. But Tigere Chagutah, the East and Southern Africa regional director at Amnesty International, condemned the restrictions as “a brazen attack on the right to freedom of expression”. “It is especially alarming coming as it does just before a crucial election already marred by massive repression and an unprecedented crackdown on opposition parties and dissenting voices,” Chagutah said in a statement on Wednesday. “Blanket shutdowns disrupt people’s mobility, livelihoods and their ability to access vital information. They are inherently disproportionate under international human rights law and must never be imposed.” Widespread violence during Uganda’s last general elections campaign, in 2021, left at least 54 people dead, according to Human Rights Watch, while the authorities also cut off social media and internet access. Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Nigeria vs Morocco – AFCON 2025 semifinal
blinking-dotLive MatchLive Match, Follow our live build-up, with full team news coverage, ahead of our text commentary stream of the second semifinal. Published On 14 Jan 202614 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Iran protests LIVE: Tehran says Trump encouraging political destabilisation
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Iran says US seeking to ‘manufacture a pretext for military intervention’, as US President Trump warns of ‘strong action’ over protest crackdown. Published On 14 Jan 202614 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
US senators introduce bill to stop Trump seizing Greenland
The bipartisan bill would bar funding for any move to occupy or annex the territory of a NATO member state. US senators have introduced a bill aimed at preventing President Donald Trump from seizing NATO territory, including the self-governing Danish island of Greenland. The bipartisan NATO Unity Protection Act introduced on Tuesday would bar the Department of Defense and Department of State from using funds to “blockade, occupy, annex or otherwise assert control” over the territory of any NATO member state. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The bill, authored by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Lisa Murkowski, comes amid growing concerns over Trump’s repeated insistence that Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, must be brought under Washington’s control, using force if necessary. “This bipartisan legislation makes clear that US taxpayer dollars cannot be used for actions that would fracture NATO and violate our own commitments to NATO,” said Shaheen, who represents the state of New Hampshire, in a statement. “This bill sends a clear message that recent rhetoric around Greenland deeply undermines America’s own national security interests and faces bipartisan opposition in Congress,” the Democratic senator said. Murkowski, a rare Republican critic of Trump who represents Alaska, said the 32-member NATO security alliance was the “strongest line of defence” against efforts to undermine global peace and stability. “The mere notion that America would use our vast resources against our allies is deeply troubling and must be wholly rejected by Congress in statute,” Murkowski said. Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland have alarmed Washington’s European allies and prompted warnings about the end of NATO, which is built on the principle that an armed attack against any one member is considered an attack against all. Advertisement Trump, who claims that control of the vast Arctic territory is crucial to US national security, has brushed aside concerns about splitting the alliance, which has been a cornerstone of the Western-led security order since the end of World War II. Trump has also claimed that China or Russia would take control of Greenland, which is home to vast reserves of fossil fuels and critical minerals, if the US does not. “I’d love to make a deal with them. It’s easier,” Trump said on Sunday of his plans for the territory. “But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.” In a rebuke to Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, on Tuesday offered some of their most forceful comments yet in defence of Copenhagen’s sovereignty over the territory. “If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” Nielsen said at a joint news conference in Copenhagen. “We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU,” he said. Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his counterpart in Greenland, Vivian Motzfeldt, are on Wednesday set to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance in Washington, DC, for talks on the escalating crisis. A bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Chris Coons and Republican Senator Thom Tillis, is set to arrive in Denmark on Friday for talks with local officials. The vast majority of Greenland’s 57,000 residents have expressed opposition to US control of the territory, according to polling. In a survey commissioned by the Danish paper Berlingske last year, 85 percent of residents said they did not wish to join the US, with just 6 percent in favour. Adblock test (Why?)
Venezuela’s top lawmaker says more than 400 prisoners have been released
The announcement contradicts claims from local rights groups that no more than 70 prisoners have been freed in recent days. Published On 14 Jan 202614 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Venezuela’s top lawmaker says more than 400 people have been freed from prison, contradicting claims from rights groups that only between 60 to 70 prisoners have been released in recent days, amid calls for freeing those imprisoned for political reasons. Jorge Rodriguez, the president of the National Assembly, made the announcement during a parliamentary session on Tuesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “The decision to release some prisoners, not political prisoners, but some politicians who had broken the law and violated the Constitution, people who called for invasion, was granted,” Rodriguez told parliament. He said more than 400 prisoners had been released, but did not provide a specific timeline. Both Rodriguez and United States President Donald Trump have said that large numbers of prisoners would be freed as a peace gesture following the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 by US forces. The release of political prisoners in Venezuela has been a long-running call of rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures. The Venezuelan government has always denied that it holds people for political reasons and has said it has already released most of the 2,000 people detained after protests over the contested 2024 presidential election. Human rights groups estimated there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela and have said that the number of prisoners freed since last week ranges between 60 and 70, and have denounced the slow pace and lack of information surrounding the releases. Advertisement Bloomberg News has reported that at least one US citizen was released from prison on Tuesday. Venezuela’s Ministry of Penitentiary Services said that at least 116 prisoners were released on Monday. US to control Venezuela’s oil resources Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado has been one of the leading voices demanding the release of prisoners, some of whom are her close allies. She is expected to meet with Trump on Thursday in Washington, DC. On the same day, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez plans to send an envoy to the US capital to meet with senior officials, Bloomberg News reported. Meanwhile, the US is continuing to take control of oil shipments in and out of Venezuela following its abduction of Maduro. The US government has filed for court warrants to seize dozens more tanker vessels linked to the Venezuelan oil trade, according to a Reuters report. The US military and coastguard have already seized five vessels in recent weeks in international waters, which were either carrying Venezuelan oil or had done so in the past. Trump imposed a naval blockade on Venezuela to prevent US-sanctioned tankers from shipping Venezuelan oil in December, a move that brought the country’s oil exports close to a standstill. Shipments have now resumed under US supervision, and, as the Trump administration says, it plans to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely. Adblock test (Why?)
Australian writers’ festival boss resigns after Palestinian author axed
Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week steps down amid wave of speaker withdrawals and board resignations. The director of a top writers’ festival in Australia has stepped down amid controversy over the cancellation of a scheduled appearance by a prominent Australian Palestinian activist and author. Louise Adler, the director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, said in an op-ed published on Tuesday that Randa Abdel-Fattah had been disinvited by the festival’s board despite her “strongest opposition”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Writing in The Guardian, Adler called Abdel-Fattah’s removal from the festival lineup a blow to free expression and a “harbinger of a less free nation”. “Now religious leaders are to be policed, universities monitored, the public broadcaster scrutinised and the arts starved,” Adler wrote. “Are you or have you ever been a critic of Israel? Joe McCarthy would be cheering on the inheritors of his tactics,” she added, citing a figure in Cold War history commonly associated with censorship. Adler’s resignation is the latest blow to the beleaguered event, which has experienced a wave of speaker withdrawals and board resignations in protest of Abdel-Fattah’s cancellation. The festival’s board announced last week that it had decided to disinvite Abdel-Fattah, a well-known Palestinian advocate and vocal critic of Israel, after determining that her appearance would not be “culturally sensitive” in the wake of a mass shooting at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach. Fifteen people were killed in the December 14 attack, which targeted a beachside Hanukkah celebration. Authorities have said the two gunmen were inspired by ISIL (ISIS). Advertisement Abdel-Fattah has called her removal “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism” and a “despicable attempt to associate me with the Bondi massacre”. On Monday, New Zealand’s former prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that she would not go ahead with her scheduled appearance at the festival, adding her name to a boycott that has swelled to some 180 writers, including former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and award-winning novelist Zadie Smith. But Peter Malinauskas, the premier of the state of South Australia, as well as several federal politicians and a number of Jewish groups have backed the revocation of Abdel-Fattah’s invitation. Abdel-Fattah’s critics have pointed to statements critical of Israel to argue that her views are beyond the pale. She has, for instance, said that her “goal is decolonisation and the end of this murderous Zionist colony”, and that Zionists “have no claim or right to cultural safety”. In her op-ed on Tuesday, Adler said pro-Israel lobbyists are using “increasingly extreme and repressive” tactics, resulting in a chilling effect on speech in Australia. “The new mantra ‘Bondi changed everything’ has offered this lobby, its stenographers in the media and a spineless political class yet another coercive weapon,” she wrote. “Hence, in 2026, the board, in an atmosphere of intense political pressure, has issued an edict that an author is to be cancelled.” Separately on Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country would hold a national day of mourning on January 22 to honour the victims of the Bondi Beach attack. Albanese said the day would be a “gathering of unity and remembrance”, with flags to be flown at half-mast on all Commonwealth buildings. Adblock test (Why?)