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?)
Senator Mark Kelly sues US Defense Department for ‘punitive retribution’
United States Senator Mark Kelly has sued the Department of Defense and its secretary, Pete Hegseth, over allegations they trampled his rights to free speech by embarking on a campaign of “punitive retribution”. The complaint was filed on Monday in the US district court in Washington, DC. It also names the Department of the Navy and its secretary, John Phelan, as defendants. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms,” Kelly, a veteran, wrote in a statement on social media. Kelly’s lawsuit is the latest escalation in a feud that first erupted in November, when a group of six Democratic lawmakers – all veterans of the US armed services or its intelligence community – published a video online reminding military members of their responsibility to “refuse illegal orders”. Democrats framed the video as a simple reiteration of government policy: Courts have repeatedly ruled that service members do indeed have a duty to reject orders they know to violate US law or the Constitution. But Republican President Donald Trump and his allies have denounced the video as “seditious behaviour” and called for the lawmakers to face punishment. A focus on Kelly Kelly, in particular, has faced a series of actions that critics describe as an unconstitutional attack on his First Amendment right to free speech. A senator from the pivotal swing state of Arizona, Kelly is one of the highest-profile lawmakers featured in November’s video. Advertisement He is also considered a rising star in the Democratic Party and is widely speculated to be a candidate for president or vice president in the 2028 elections. But before his career in politics, Kelly was a pilot in the US Navy who flew missions during the Gulf War. He retired at the rank of captain. Kelly was also selected to be an astronaut, along with his twin Scott Kelly, and they served as part of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). His entry into politics came after his wife, former Representative Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head during a 2011 assassination attempt. On Monday, Kelly described the Senate as “a place I never expected to find myself in”. “My wife Gabby was always the elected official in our family,” he told his Senate colleagues. “If she had never been shot in the head, she would be here in this chamber and not me. But I love this country, and I felt that I had an obligation to continue my public service in a way that I never expected.” Kelly’s participation in the November video has placed him prominently within the Trump administration’s crosshairs, and officials close to the president have taken actions to condemn his statements. Shortly after the video came out, for instance, the Defense Department announced it had opened an investigation into Kelly. It warned that the senator could face a court-martial depending on the results of the probe. The pressure on Kelly continued this month, when Hegseth revealed on social media that he had submitted a formal letter of censure against the senator. That letter accused Kelly of “conduct unbecoming of an office” and alleged he had “undermined the chain of command” through his video. Hegseth explained that the letter sought to demote Kelly from the rank he reached at his retirement, as well as reduce his retirement pay. “Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth wrote on the platform X. “As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.” Attacking political speech Kelly responded to that claim by alleging that Hegseth had embarked on a campaign of politically motivated retribution, designed to silence any future criticism from US military veterans. “Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator,” Kelly wrote on social media on Monday. Advertisement “His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.” Kelly also took to the floor of the Senate on Monday to defend his decision to sue officials from the Trump administration. “Every service member knows that military rank is earned. It’s not given. It’s earned through the risks you take,” Kelly told his fellow senators. “After my 25 years of service, I earned my rank as a captain in the United States Navy. Now, Pete Hegseth wants even our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and retirement pay years or even decades after they leave the military, just because he or another secretary of defence or a president doesn’t like what they’ve said.” His lawsuit calls for the federal court system to halt the proceedings against him and declare Hegseth’s letter of censure unlawful. The court filing makes a twofold argument: that the efforts to discipline Kelly not only violate his free speech rights but also constitute an attack on legislative independence, since they allegedly seek to intimidate a member of Congress. “It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech,” the lawsuit asserts. The complaint also accuses the Trump administration of violating Kelly’s right to due process, given the high-profile calls from within the government to punish the senator. It pointed to social