Families grieve toxic tap water deaths in India city

Khan,Indore and Abhishek Dey,

Delhi

BBC

Sameer Khan
More than 200 people are admitted in hospitals in Indore


Sunil Sahu bitterly regrets the day his five-month-old son was given some cow milk diluted with tap water.

Avyan was being breast-fed but his father says the family - who live in Indore city in India's central Madhya Pradesh state - gave him the diluted mixture in addition.

In many Indian families, cow's milk is believed to be too thick for infants and capable of upsetting their digestion, leading caregivers to dilute it.

Aware that tap water is unsafe to drink, the family said they boiled the milk–water mixture and allowed it to cool before feeding Avyan.

The infant started suffering from diarrhoea on 26 December. Despite being treated by a local doctor, the child died within three days. Mr Sahu alleges that the tap water killed his son.

Avyan is among several people suspected to have died after drinking contaminated water in Indore's Bhagirathpura neighbourhood. Investigations are still going on but officials say that a pipeline leak led to sewage mixing with drinking water, leading to a diarrhoea outbreak in the area.

The exact death toll remains unclear. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said postmortem reports have so far confirmed four deaths linked to contaminated drinking water.

But the number is likely to increase. While state minister Kailash Vijayvargiya says he has heard about eight deaths so far, local journalists told BBC Hindi that the toll is close to 14.

More than 200 people have been admitted to hospitals in the city.

Over the past week, around 40,000 residents of Bhagirathpura - a neighbourhood of largely poor and lower-middle income families - were screened by health authorities and around 2,450 cases of vomiting and diarrhoea were identified, said the government.

The deaths in Indore - often ranked India's cleanest city - have sparked an uproar and put the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the defensive.

District Magistrate Shivam Verma said the leak that caused the contamination has been fixed and officials are checking for others. One municipal officer has been dismissed and two suspended.

"It should not have happened in the first place. We have set up a committee to investigate the matter, and no stone will be left unturned to make sure that it does not happen again," Chief Minister Yadav told the media.

The local municipal corporation is currently supplying water to Bhagirathpura through tankers. Residents say they have been told not to use tap water until further notice.

Sameer Khan
Nandalal Pal (left) and Seema Prajapat (right) are among the victims

While government teams conduct inspection drives in Bhagirathpura, families are grieving.

Sanjay Yadav, a tailor, says his 69-year-old mother started vomiting on the evening of 26 December.

"We took her to a hospital, but she died in less than 24 hours," said Mr Yadav, whose 11-month-old son is also unwell.

His neighbour Sudha Pal's 76-year-old father Nandalal Pal also died after a bout of severe diarrhoea.

"The tap water in our house is still contaminated and it stinks," she says.

"The water smelt foul, but we never thought it could kill someone," said Arun Prajapat, who alleges that his mother Seema died after consuming the contaminated water.

According to media reports, residents of Bhagirathpura had complained about the foul-smelling and contaminated water for more than two months before the diarrhoea outbreak.

When asked about this, local councillor Kamal Waghela of the BJP told news agency ANI on Thursday that Indore's sewage and water pipelines need a lot of repairs and that work had been progressing in most areas.

Jitu Patwari of the opposition Congress, however, accused the BJP government of misgovernance and hiding the actual number of deaths.

"Indore has consistently given votes to the BJP but they have given poisoned water instead," he told ANI.

2025: Illegal Israeli settlement expansion in occupied West Bank hits record high

Israel approves plans for 41 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank in 2025, the highest number on record, according to Peace Now

Rabia Ali |02.01.2026 - TRT/AA

ISTANBUL

2025 closed as a record-breaking year for illegal Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, with Israel’s far-right coalition approving an unprecedented number of new settlements and housing projects – a push rights groups say is aimed at annexing the territory and blocking Palestinian statehood.

According to Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, the approvals finalized this year capped an acceleration that began under the current government, surpassing any period since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.

“This is nothing to compare to previous governments,” Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Team told Anadolu.

“The goal of this government … is to prevent a political solution based on a two-state solution,” he said.

41 settlements approved in 2025

Peace Now said plans for 41 new illegal settlements were approved in 2025, making it the most extensive single year of settlement approvals on record. The figure includes both newly announced settlements and the retroactive legalization of previously unauthorized outposts.

In May, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the construction of 22 new illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank – the largest expansion in decades.

The move included the reestablishment of settlements in Homesh and Sa-Nur, which were dismantled under Israel’s 2005 unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

On Dec. 21, the Security Cabinet approved an additional plan to legalize 19 more settlements in the occupied West Bank, some newly established and others long-standing outposts now granted formal status.

Mizrachi said the current government moved quickly after taking office, legalizing 10 outposts in early 2023 and transforming nine of them into settlements.

Outposts are illegal even under Israeli law, while settlements are considered legal by Israel despite being illegal under international law.

Altogether, 68 settlements have been approved, legalized or initiated over the past three years, Peace Now said.

“This does not mean that all 68 settlements have already been established” Mizrachi said. “It means the process has begun – with government support, different planning committees and authorities."

Spread across entire West Bank

The expansion is geographically wide-ranging, extending into areas where no settlements previously existed.

"Sixty-eight settlements that will be built according to the Israeli plan from the south to the north or from the north to the south,” said Mizrachi. “Including areas that today we don't have any settlements like areas around Jenin, around Hebron.”

"It's all over the West Bank actually,” he added.

In early 2023, there were more or less 140 settlements in the occupied West Bank, Mizrachi said. With recent approvals, that number has risen to 208.

The total number of Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank now stands at about 750,000.

Settlement expansion has also accelerated through construction approvals.

Peace Now on its website said Israeli authorities advanced plans for 28,163 settler housing units in 2025 – the highest figure ever recorded.

On the final day of the year, Israeli authorities approved a plan allowing settlers to return to Sa-Nur, greenlighting 126 housing units at the site evacuated in 2005, according to Israeli media.

The move was enabled by amendments introduced by the current government to the Disengagement Law, lifting restrictions on Israeli presence in parts of the northern West Bank.

Peace Now said the approval marks a return to settlement activity deep inside the northern West Bank, in densely populated Palestinian areas where settlers had not previously been present.

Blocking Palestinian statehood

Mizrachi said settlement expansion is central to the government’s strategy to prevent Palestinian statehood without formally declaring annexation.

“In the last three years, Israel has taken many steps – bureaucratic steps, advancing settlements, developing the West Bank – to increase the number of Israeli settlers,” he said.

“The aim is to prevent a Palestinian state in any political solution, because there will be so many settlements and so many locations with an Israeli presence that it would be much more difficult to evacuate.”

He said pressure from settler movements has intensified, pushing the government toward de facto annexation while avoiding a formal declaration due to international and US pressure.

B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, spokesperson Yair Dvir said the settlement drive is accompanied by the forcible displacement of Palestinians.

"Israel continues to advance ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, both through the construction and retroactive legalization of outposts and new settlements, and through the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities and the violent takeover of vast areas of Palestinian lands,” he told Anadolu.

Concerns for 2026

Looking ahead, Mizrachi said settlement expansion is likely to continue into 2026, an election year in Israel.

"We are assuming that the advancing of settlement, house units, financial support to the settlers will continue in 2026 – it might increase or might not,” he said. “But definitely, the pattern that we have seen in the last three years will continue."

He added that since October 2023, dozens of Palestinian communities have been forced to flee due to settler violence.

"Many times, an outpost is built next to the Palestinian community, making it more tense for the Palestinians to stay there,” he said. “We still see a lot of settler violence, much of it coming from illegal outposts."

Mizrachi warned the trajectory is deepening instability.

“Instead of going toward a political solution that would mean withdrawing from the West Bank,” he said, “we are just going deeper into a more problematic situation.”

Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli prison in southern Israel

Hassan Issa al-Qasha'leh dies after 13 months in detention, as rights groups warn of worsening prison conditions.

Israeli soldiers stand by truck with Palestinian detainees in Gaza [File] / Reuters

TRT WORLD

02/Q1/2O25


Another Palestinian detainee has died in Israeli custody, according to local media reports.

Hassan Issa al-Qasha’leh, from the city of Rahat in the Negev, died on Thursday inside Beersheba Prison in southern Israel, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Al-Qasha’leh had been held in Israeli detention for more than 13 months and was scheduled to be released in six months, the agency said.

The Israeli Prison Service earlier confirmed the death of a Palestinian detainee held under administrative detention, but did not identify him, adding that a special investigation team had been formed and that the cause of death had not yet been determined.

The death comes amid growing reports of deteriorating conditions inside Israeli detention facilities.

TRT World - Another Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli custody as prisoner death toll tops 100

Increasing warnings

Palestinian human rights organisations have warned that thousands of Palestinians are being held under harsh conditions, citing systematic violations including torture, starvation, medical neglect, and physical and sexual abuse.

These groups say such practices have contributed to a rising number of deaths among detainees.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office said continued policies of isolation, repression and deliberate neglect are having severe consequences for detainees’ physical health and ability to endure imprisonment.

The office held Israel fully responsible for the safety of prisoners and warned of serious repercussions if current policies continue, calling for urgent legal and humanitarian intervention to halt what it described as ongoing violations inside Israeli prisons.

Palestinian authorities estimate that more than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including more than 50 women and about 350 children.

The figures do not include detainees held in Israeli army camps.

Since October 2023, Palestinian groups say at least 100 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli detention.

Israeli rights groups condemn government’s ban on aid groups operating in Gaza, West Bank

January 2, 2026 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid are passing through the Kissufim Border Crossing and heading towards Gaza under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas and reach the Gaza Strip in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on November 12, 2025. [Mohammed Nassar – Anadolu Agency]

Nineteen Israeli human rights groups on Thursday condemned a government decision to cancel the registration of 37 international humanitarian groups operating in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, Anadolu Agency reported.

On Tuesday, the government began sending official notices to dozens of international organizations informing them that their licenses would be cancelled starting from January 2026, and requiring them to end their activities by March of the same year.

“In parallel with, and as part of, Israel’s assault on the people of Gaza, humanitarian access has been severely constrained since October 2023,” the rights groups, including Adalah and B’Tselem, said in a joint statement.

“Essential aid – including food, medicine, shelter, and hygiene items – continues to be delayed or denied,” they added.

READ: Israel denied drinking water to Palestinian detainees as collective punishment: Report

The groups warned that prohibiting aid organizations from operating in Gaza and West Bank “undermines principled humanitarian action, endangers staff and communities, and compromises effective aid delivery.”

They called on the Israeli government to “immediately halt deregistration proceedings, remove barriers to humanitarian and human rights action, and allow international organizations to operate safely and effectively.”

Israel has previously taken similar steps against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). In 2024, the Knesset passed legislation banning the UN agency’s activities in Israel, citing allegations that some UNRWA employees were involved in the 7 October 2023 events, claims the agency has denied. The UN has said UNRWA adheres to strict neutrality standards.

Israeli authorities later escalated measures against the agency, passing a law to cut water and electricity supplies to UNRWA facilities.

Belfast rallies for UK  Palestine hunger strikers as memories of 1981 return

For many in Belfast, the pro-Palestine hunger strikes are a reminder of what Irish republicans endured 44 years ago.

Activists take part in the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally as it makes its way along Royal Avenue to Donegall Place before reaching Belfast City Hall [File: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images]

ByCaolán Magee
Published On 2 Jan 20262 Jan 2026
AL JAZEERA


Belfast, Northern Ireland — On New Year’s Eve, as fireworks lit the Belfast sky, the city’s streets were abuzz — and not only in celebration.

Hundreds gathered in solidarity with activists from the Palestine Action group who are on hunger strikes in prison. Their chants echoed past murals that do not merely decorate the city, but testify to its troubled past.

Along the Falls Road, Irish republican murals sit beside Palestinian ones. The International Wall, once a rolling canvas of global struggles, has become known as the Palestinian wall. Poems by the late Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer, killed in an Israeli air strike in December 2023, run across its length. Images sent by Palestinian artists have been painted by local hands.

More recently, new words have appeared on Belfast’s famed walls. “Blessed are those who hunger for justice.” Painted alongside long-familiar images of Irish republican prisoners like Bobby Sands are new names now written into the city’s political conscience: the four pro-Palestinian activists currently on hunger strike in British prisons, their bodies weakening as the days stretch on.

“This is not a city that will ever accept any attempt to silence our voice or our right to protest or our right to stand up for human rights,” said Patricia McKeown, a trade union activist who spoke at the protest.

“These young people are being held unjustly and in ridiculous conditions – and they have taken the ultimate decision to express their views … and most particularly on what’s happening to people in Palestine – why would we not support that?” she asked.
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A hunger strike reaches Belfast

The protest in Belfast is part of a growing international campaign urging the British government to intervene as the health of four detainees deteriorates behind prison walls. All are affiliated with Palestine Action and are being held on remand while awaiting trial, a process campaigners say could keep them imprisoned for more than a year before their cases are heard. With legal avenues exhausted, supporters say the hunger strike has become a last resort.

The Palestine Action members are being held over their alleged involvement in break-ins at the United Kingdom subsidiary of Elbit Systems in Filton near Bristol, where equipment was reportedly damaged, and at a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, where two military aircraft were sprayed with red paint. The prisoners deny the charges against them, which include burglary and violent disorder.

The prisoners are demanding release on bail, an end to what they describe as interference with their mail and reading materials, access to a fair trial and the de-proscription of Palestine Action. In July, the British government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer banned Palestine Action under a controversial anti-terrorism law.

Heba Muraisi is on day 61 without food. Teuta Hoxha is on day 55. Kamran Ahmed on day 54. Lewie Chiaramello on day 41. Hoxha and Ahmed have already been hospitalised. Campaigners describe it as the largest hunger strike in Britain since 1981, one they say is explicitly inspired by the Irish hunger strikes.

In 1981, Irish Republican Army and other republican prisoners went on hunger strike in Northern Ireland, demanding the restoration of their political status. Ten men died, including their leader, Bobby Sands, who was elected to the British parliament during the strike. Margaret Thatcher took a hardline public stance, but behind the scenes, the government ultimately sought a way out as public opinion shifted.

One prisoner, 29-year-old Martin Hurson, died on the 46th day. Others, including Raymond McCreesh, Francis Hughes, Michael Devine and Joe McDonnell, died between days 59 and 61. Sands died after 66 days on a hunger strike.

Sue Pentel, a member of Jews for Palestine Ireland, remembers that period vividly.

“I was here during the hunger strike,” she said. “I went through the hunger strikes, marched, demonstrated, held meetings, protested, so I remember the callous brutality of the British government letting 10 hungers die.”

“The words of Bobby Sands, which are ‘Our revenge will be the laughter of our children’. And we raised our families here, and they’re the same people, this new generation who are standing in solidarity with Palestine.”

‘If this continues, some will die’

Standing beneath a mural of Bobby Sands, Pat Sheehan fears history is edging dangerously close to repeating itself. He spent 55 days on a hunger strike before it was called off on October 3, 1981.

“I was the longest on that hunger strike when it came to an end in 1981, so in theory I would have been the next person to die,” he said.

By that stage, he said, his liver was failing. His eyesight had gone. He vomited bile constantly.

“Once you pass 40 days, you’re entering the danger zone,” Sheehan said. “Physically, the hunger strikers must be very weak now for those who have been on hunger strike for over 50 days.”

“Mentally, if they have prepared properly to go on hunger strike, their psychological strength will increase the longer the hunger strike goes on.”

“I think if it continues, inevitably some of the hunger strikers are going to die.”

Sheehan, who now represents West Belfast as an MLA for Sinn Fein, believes that Palestine Action-linked hunger strikers are political prisoners, adding that people in Ireland understand Palestine in a way few Western countries do.

“Ireland is probably the one country in Western Europe where there’s almost absolute support for the Palestinian cause,” he said. “Because we have a similar history of colonisation; of genocide and detention.”

“So when Irish people see on their TV screens what’s happening in Gaza, there’s massive empathy.”

Ireland’s stance

That empathy has increasingly translated into political action. Ireland formally recognised the state of Palestine in 2024 and has joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice, alleging genocide in Gaza, a charge Israel denies.

The Irish government has also taken steps to restrict the sale of Israeli bonds, while Ireland has boycotted the Eurovision Song Contest over Israel’s participation and called for its national football team to be suspended from international competition.

But many campaigners say the government’s actions have not gone far enough. They argue that the Occupied Territories Bill, which seeks to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, has been stalled since 2018, and express anger that United States military aircraft transporting weapons to Israel are still permitted to pass through Ireland’s Shannon Airport.

Meanwhile, in the northern part of Ireland that remains part of Britain, the war in Gaza has dominated domestic politics.

The Stormont Assembly was thrown into crisis after Democratic Unionist Party education minister Paul Givan travelled to Jerusalem on a trip paid for by the Israeli government, prompting a no-confidence vote amid fierce criticism from Irish republican, nationalist, left-wing and unaligned political groups.

Belfast City Hall’s decision last month to fly a Palestinian flag was also fervently opposed by unionist councillors before it was eventually approved.

For some loyalist and unionist groups, support for Israel has become entwined with loyalty to Britain, with Israeli flags also flying in traditionally loyalist parts of Belfast.

With a legacy of identity rooted along sectarian lines, the genocide in Gaza has at times been recast along the old fault lines of division.

‘Solidarity reaches Palestine’

Yet on the streets of Belfast, protesters insist their solidarity is not rooted in national identity, but in humanity.

Damien Quinn, 33, a member of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, said hunger strikes had always carried a particular weight in Ireland.

“We are here today to support the hunger strikers in Britain. But we are also here for the Palestinian people for those being slaughtered every single day,” he said.

Palestine Action, he said, “made it very clear they have tried signing petitions, they have tried lobbying, they’ve tried everything”.

“So when I see the way they are being treated in prison, for standing up against genocide, that’s heartbreaking.”

For Rita Aburahma, 25, a Palestinian who has found a home in Belfast, the hunger strike carries a painful familiarity.

“My people don’t have the luxury of speaking out, being in Palestine – solidarity matters,” she said.

“I find the hunger strikers are really brave – it’s always been a form of resistance. It does concern me, and many other people, how long it has taken the government to pay attention to them, or take action in any form.

“Nothing will save those people if the government doesn’t do something about them. So it is shocking in a way, but not that surprising because the same government has been watching the genocide unfold and escalate without doing anything.

“Every form of solidarity reaches the people in Palestine.”

U.S. interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean haven't always gone as planned

January 2, 2026

NPR

By Scott Neuman

An April 1961 file photo shows a group of CIA-backed Cuban counterrevolutionaries after their capture in the Bay of Pigs, Cuba.Miguel Vinas/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump's pressure campaign against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is the latest chapter in a long history of U.S. intervention in the Caribbean basin, rooted in the 1823 Monroe Doctrine but fully realized in the 20th century — ostensibly to protect U.S. interests and counter communism.

Trump's Venezuela Moves Follow Long History Of Intervention In Latin America

In recent months, U.S. strikes on boats that the White House says were transporting Venezuelan drugs, the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers, and most recently, a CIA strike on a Venezuelan dock reflect a "Big Stick" approach to regional policy that dates back more than a century to President Theodore Roosevelt. In it, Roosevelt built on the Monroe Doctrine, which was formulated originally by President James Monroe to warn European powers away from interfering in the region.

Roosevelt, who himself fought against Spain in Cuba in 1898, expanded that doctrine to assert a U.S. right to act unilaterally as a regional policeman — using military force to reinforce diplomatic pressure to advance its interests.

Following World War II, and especially since the Cuban Revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in Havana, that focus shifted primarily to stopping what Washington said was the potential spread of communism in the region.

"During the Cold War, intervention was mostly covert. In the 1980s, you begin to see more overt actions," says Eduardo Gamarra, a professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University.

U.S. policy in the region was one of strategic denial, Gamarra says. That meant deterring non-American actors in the region.

"In the 1800s, that meant Europeans; in the 20th century, especially after World War II, it meant the Soviet Union," he says.

The U.S. is interested in Venezuelan oil, but that's not all

This led to a shared post-World War II notion between the U.S. and many right-wing governments in Latin America that communism "was not indigenous to the Americas," says Edward Murphy, a professor of history at Michigan State University. "They justified this through the logic of the Monroe Doctrine, because this was a foreign ideology that needed to be extirpated from the Americas."

By the mid-1980s, the U.S. "transitioned from the Cold War to the drug war" in the region, according to Gamarra.

U.S. policy, underpinned by the Monroe Doctrine, has shaped the region in the decades since World War II, leading to overt and covert interventions that have often — but not always — resulted in bad outcomes and unintended consequences.

Here are five examples:

The overthrow of Guatemala's government

By 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was concerned about a Guatemalan land-reform program that nationalized property owned by the U.S.-based United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands International). The initiative was carried out under Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz, the nation's second democratically elected leader, whose term began in 1951. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles accused Árbenz of establishing what he described as a "communist-type reign of terror."

Indigenous women beg in Guatemala in June 2004 in front of a propaganda mural that speaks against U.S. interventions in the region.

Orlando Sierra/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S., Gamarra says, "responded by undermining Árbenz and supporting a military coup."

The CIA launched a successful covert plan of psychological warfare designed to destabilize the Árbenz government while backing a coup to topple it. Coup leader Carlos Castillo Armas, who came to power after Árbenz, was the first in a series of brutal U.S.-backed authoritarians to rule Guatemala before civilian rule returned in the mid-1980s.

Mario Vargas Llosa explores 1954 Guatemalan coup in new novel

The U.S. overthrow of Árbenz emboldened right-wing elements in the country to engage in a campaign of repression, Murphy says. "What the overthrow of Árbenz really did was fortify illiberal forces in Guatemala."

Murphy says what happened in Guatemala became a model for other repressive right-wing governments in the region, such as Chile, to follow.

The Bay of Pigs invasion

Fidel Castro's soldiers at Playa de Giron, Cuba, after thwarting the ill-fated U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

Graf/Getty Images/Hulton Archive

Shortly after taking office in 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved a covert plan to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who had grown increasingly aligned with the Soviet Union since seizing power two years earlier. The secret operation, originally developed under the Eisenhower administration, relied on a force of about 1,400 CIA-trained Cuban exiles who were expected to seize the Bay of Pigs on Cuba's southern coast and spark a popular uprising against Castro.

50 Years Later: Learning From The Bay Of Pigs

Instead, the Bay of Pigs invasion ended in disaster. Castro ordered some 20,000 troops to the beach, forcing most of the U.S.-backed invasion force to surrender. More than 100 were killed. The incident became a major embarrassment for the United States.

The Bay of Pigs convinced Castro and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that the United States would attempt another invasion of Cuba. Castro convinced Khrushchev he needed Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba to deter further U.S. aggression, precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The resulting confrontation over the missiles brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war before Kennedy and Khrushchev worked out a delicate compromise that averted a direct conflict between the two superpowers.

60 years after the Cuban missile crisis, Russia's threats reignite Cold War fears

It was an extreme Cold War confrontation that came close to a nuclear catastrophe, Gamarra says. The long-term consequences, he says, resulted in "a misguided embargo that hasn't changed the regime and instead consolidated Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union and now Russia."

The U.S. invasion of Grenada

By 1983, the southern Caribbean island of Grenada was undergoing a period of political instability after the 1979 overthrow of Prime Minister Eric Gairy by Maurice Bishop, a socialist leader aligned with Cuba and the Soviet Union

"Cuba was making inroads across the Caribbean," Gamarra says.

President Ronald Reagan's White House was suspicious of Havana's involvement in the construction of a large international airport in Grenada, which had only gained independence from Britain in 1974.

In its first major combat deployment since the end of the Vietnam War, U.S. forces landed on Oct. 25, 1983, as part of Operation Urgent Fury. Reagan cited regional security concerns and the need to protect U.S. medical students attending the island's St. George's University School of Medicine as justification for intervention.

U.S. soldiers arrest suspected Marxist activist in St. George's, the capital of the Grenada Island, on Oct. 30, 1983, three days after American forces invaded the island, ousting the Marxist government.

AFP/via Getty Images

Although U.S. forces encountered stronger resistance and more logistical difficulties than expected, military operations took only a few days. The U.S. helped install a provisional government and elections were held in 1984.

Since then, Grenada has experienced stable, democratic governance, with elections and peaceful transfers of power. Today, it is generally regarded as more politically stable than most of its Caribbean neighbors.

U.S. support for the Nicaraguan Contras

After decades of U.S. support for the oppressive and corrupt Somoza family that ruled Nicaragua, Anastasio Somoza was overthrown in 1979 during a popular uprising led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Daniel Ortega, a committed Marxist at the time and prominent FSLN leader, assumed control of the government.

President Reagan opposed the Sandinistas and in 1981 issued a covert directive for U.S. aid to support a group of anti-Sandinista insurgents known as the Contras.

In 1982, the U.S. Congress passed the Boland Amendment to block U.S. support for the Contras. Despite these restrictions, the Reagan administration secretly continued aiding the group through a scheme that illegally sold weapons to Iran and funneled the proceeds to the Nicaraguan rebels. When the operation was exposed, it became one of the most significant scandals of Reagan's presidency: the Iran-Contra affair.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Oliver North, former aide to National Security Adviser John Poindexter, is sworn in on July 7, 1987, before the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on arms sales to Iran and diversion of profits to Nicaraguan Contra rebels.

Chris Wilkins/AFP via Getty Images

"The Contra war was devastating — socially, economically, and politically," says Murphy.

Despite efforts to topple him, Ortega remained in power and won a decisive electoral victory in 1984. He lost in 1990 to Violeta Chamorro, a wealthy, U.S.-educated newspaper owner who served as president until 1997.

"In the end, it was … soft power that led to the Sandinistas' loss in the elections and the victory by Chamorro," Gamarra notes.

Subsequently, Ortega's political stance evolved away from Marxism, and he won elections in 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021. Today Ortega is president of Nicaragua along with his wife, co-President Rosario Murillo.

Murphy says it's a different Ortega now — one that "looks more like a Somoza government than a Sandinista government because it's a family dictatorship."

Ortega and Murillo, who Murphy calls "the power behind the throne," have "followed almost to the letter what Somoza was doing."

The U.S. invasion of Panama

Although brutal and corrupt, Panama's Gen. Manuel Noriega was useful to the U.S. in the 1980s, due to the de facto leader's cooperation with the CIA in providing a base of operations for the Contras in Nicaragua.

But Noriega's drug trafficking, which included a relationship with notorious Colombian narcotrafficker Pablo Escobar, soon transformed him into a net liability for the U.S. By 1986, mounting evidence of his ties to drug cartels, extrajudicial killings and selling of U.S. secrets to Eastern European governments was an embarrassment. In 1988, federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa indicted Noriega on racketeering, drug smuggling and money laundering charges.

Panamian leader Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, right, fakes a punch to a supporter on May 2, 1989, at the laying of the foundation of a group home in the neighborhood of Panama City where boxer Roberto Duran was born. Months later, Noriega would be driven from power by a U.S. invasion of Panama.

Manoocher Degahti/AFP via Getty Images

The following year, President George H.W. Bush took office. Bush was briefly CIA director in the 1970s, when Noriega was considered a valuable intelligence asset. But in 1989, Bush decided that Noriega needed to go. The administration backed a failed coup attempt in October. But two months later, Bush launched Operation Just Cause, an invasion by 20,000 U.S. troops that ultimately overthrew Noriega and took him into U.S. custody.

Since Noriega's ouster, Panama has maintained a stable democracy with regular, peaceful elections and significant economic growth.

Gamarra says Panama is a rare example of a successful American intervention in the region. "We went in there, we got rid of Manuel Noriega," he says.

"We had a clear exit plan, which is not something the U.S. is very good at anywhere else," Gamarra says, referring to the emphasis on capturing Noriega in a quick and limited military operation. Today, he says, "at least in terms of its economic system, [Panama] is still extraordinarily successful."

However, Murphy is less sanguine.

"I don't think the invasion is responsible for anything positive that comes later," he says, "other than the fact that Noriega was no longer in power."

Maduro says open to talks with US on drug trafficking

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declines to comment on a CIA strike on Venezuelan docking area, saying he will address it in a few days.

Asked about the operation on Venezuelan soil, Maduro said he could "talk about it in a few days." / Reuters

Venezuela is open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking, the South American country's President Nicolas Maduro said in a pre-taped interview aired on state television, but he declined to comment on a CIA-led strike last week at a Venezuelan docking area that the Trump administration believed was used by cartels.

Maduro, in an interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, reiterated on Thursday that the US wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.

"What are they seeking? It is clear that they seek to impose themselves through threats, intimidation and force," Maduro said, later adding that it is time for both nations to "start talking seriously, with data in hand."

"The US government knows, because we've told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we're ready," he said.

"If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for US investment, like with Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it, and however they want it."

Chevron Corp. is the only major oil company exporting Venezuelan crude to the US. Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves.

RelatedTRT World - Venezuela demands 'unconditional respect' for its airspace

US strikes


The interview was taped on New Year's Eve, the same day the US military announced strikes against five alleged drug-smuggling boats. The latest attacks bring the total number of known boat strikes to 35 and the number of people killed to at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration. Venezuelans are among the victims.

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted that the US is engaged in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels. The strikes began off Venezuela's Caribbean coast and later expanded to the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, the CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter.

It was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the boat strikes began, a significant escalation in the administration's pressure campaign on Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the US.

Asked about the operation on Venezuelan soil, Maduro said he could "talk about it in a few days."

The Trump administration has provided no evidence that the targeted boats were involved in drug trafficking, prompting debate about the legality of these operations.

International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings, a charge that Washington denies.

BULLY, BLUFF & BLUSTER 

Trump Threatens Intervention as Iran’s Economic Protests Turn Violent

World | January 2, 2026, Friday 

US President Donald Trump has warned that Washington is prepared to intervene if Iranian authorities use lethal force against peaceful protesters, as demonstrations over worsening economic conditions spread across the country and turn increasingly violent.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday, Trump said the United States would act if Iranian security forces shot and killed demonstrators. He wrote that such actions were customary for the Iranian regime and added that the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go.” The statement followed reports of deaths during Iran’s most serious wave of protests in three years.

Iranian officials quickly pushed back. Ali Larijani, a former speaker of parliament and current secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused Israel and the United States of fueling the unrest, though he provided no evidence. Writing on X, a platform blocked in Iran, Larijani warned that US intervention in what he described as a domestic issue would trigger chaos across the region and damage American interests. He added that Americans should understand that Trump was embarking on dangerous adventurism and urged them to be mindful of the safety of US soldiers.

The protests began over sharp price increases and economic hardship after Iran’s national currency plunged to record lows. What started as a merchants’ strike in Tehran has since spread to multiple provinces, with shop owners, bazaar traders and university students joining demonstrations and chanting slogans against the government. While the scale remains smaller than the nationwide unrest seen in 2022, the current protests represent the largest outbreak of public anger since then.

Clashes between demonstrators and security forces have intensified in recent days. State television reported that a volunteer member of the Basij paramilitary force was killed overnight during protests in the western city of Kuhdasht. According to various reports, at least six civilians have also died in confrontations with security forces across the country.

Semi-official media outlet Fars News Agency said two people were killed in clashes in Lordegan, in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, while three others died in Azna, in neighboring Lorestan province. A human rights group, Hengaw, also reported fatalities, saying security forces had fired on protesters, killing and wounding several people. Hengaw added that another protester was shot dead in central Isfahan province.

Footage shared online, though unverified, appeared to show demonstrators throwing stones at police in Lordegan. Fars claimed that protesters attacked the governor’s office, banks and other state buildings and alleged that armed individuals exploited the protests. The agency said authorities later seized firearms from several people, though no evidence was provided

The earliest reported death linked to the unrest occurred on Wednesday night, when a member of the Basij was killed and 13 others were injured in Kuhdasht, according to state-affiliated media. Fars broadcast images of a police officer receiving medical treatment after allegedly being set on fire during the clashes. The Basij force, which is loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is often deployed to suppress protests.

Authorities have moved quickly to make arrests. The prosecutor in Kuhdasht said 20 people were detained during the protests there. In Malard county, west of Tehran, officials reported the arrest of 30 individuals on charges of disturbing public order. A local official said those detained were abusing their lawful right to protest and claimed some had traveled from neighboring areas to take part.

The unrest reflects deep frustration with Iran’s prolonged economic crisis. The economy has been under severe strain since the United States reimposed sweeping sanctions in 2018, following Trump’s withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement during his first term. Inflation exceeded 40 percent in December, further eroding living standards.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has attempted to ease tensions by replacing the central bank chief and instructing the interior minister to listen to what he described as the protesters’ legitimate demands. Speaking on state television, Pezeshkian said that failing to address people’s livelihoods would have grave moral consequences. At the same time, authorities have warned against exploiting the situation and have promised a firm response to unrest.

The US State Department said it was alarmed by reports of intimidation, violence and arrests of protesters and called on Iranian authorities to halt the crackdown. In a message posted in Farsi, the department expressed support for Iranians demanding respect for their voices and rights.

Many Iranians remain wary of what may come next. The death of a young Basij volunteer has raised fears that the authorities could use it as a pretext for a harsher crackdown, similar to the response that followed the Women, Life, Freedom protests in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. That movement was suppressed with heavy force, leaving hundreds dead and thousands imprisoned.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council

secretary warns US interference 

would destabilize region

Statements by Israeli officials and Trump make 'what has been going on behind the scenes ... clear,' says Ali Larijani, responding to online remarks by Trump saying US is 'locked and loaded'

Seyit Kurt |02.01.2026 - TRT/AA



ISTANBUL

US interference in Iran would both destabilize the Middle East and devastate US interests as well, warned the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Friday.

Responding in English to recent remarks by US President Donald Trump, Ali Larijani said on US social media company X: “With the statements by Israeli officials and Trump, what has been going on behind the scenes is now clear.”

He said Iran distinguishes between the stance of Iran’s “protesting shopkeepers and the actions of disruptive actors,” warning that US interference in what he described as an internal matter would “destabilize the entire region and destroy America’s interests.”

"The American people should know — Trump started this adventurism. They should be mindful of their soldiers’ safety," he added.

Larijani’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump warned that Washington would intervene if Iran “shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters,” saying that the US is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Javid Shah war cry in Iran: A taboo phrase

becomes chant in anti-Khamenei unrest

Protests against the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are raging across Iran. Fuelled by economic distress, protestors are calling for the clerical regime to step down and restoration of the Shah's monarchy. The slogan, "Javid Shah" ("Long Live the Shah"), is being raised. The Shah, whose regime was toppled in 1979, has now become the voice of Iranian resistance against the theocratic regime which ousted the monarchy.



Iranians are calling for the return of the Shah's rule, 47 years after it was ousted in the Islamic Revolution in 1979. (Image: AP/Queen Farah Pahlavi)


India Today World Desk
New Delhi,

 Jan 2, 2026 
Written By: Shounak Sanyal


Protests against Iran's regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have spread nationwide, beginning in Tehran among the merchants before expanding to dozens of cities. By Friday, January 2, protests were reported in more than 30 cities, including Qom, the bastion of Iran's ruling clerical class. The unrest is the largest since the 2022 protests following Mahsa Amini's death, which saw pro-monarchy chants backing the former Pahlavi Shah and its crown prince, Reza Pahlavi.

Along with chants of "Mullahs must leave Iran", the slogan of "Javid Shah," meaning "long live the Shah", was raised by the protestors.

Economic distress initially fuelled the protests, driven by a sharply depreciating currency, trading at around 42,000 rials to the United States dollar, and inflation of up to 42 percent. The protests have evolved into open calls for the theocratic regime to step down. Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad said protesters were chanting slogans "Death to the

So, who is the Shah that Iranians are now invoking to oppose the rule of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? It was during the rule of the Shah that protests led by Ruhollah Khomeini, the predecessor of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ousted the monarchy in 1979. As a result, a Shia clerical system was established in Iran, with the office of the Ayatollah, or Supreme Leader, at the head of the state.

Reza Pahlavi, who is now the crown prince of the long-deposed Pahlavi dynasty, and is living in exile in the United States, has voiced support for the protests. He praised demonstrators for resisting the regime and called for unity while honouring those who have died seeking greater freedom.

Who is Reza Pahlavi? What is the Pahlavi dynasty, calls for whose restoration, is being raised? The name of the Shah had been a taboo in Iran. It has now become the rallying cry for the latest movement against the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

WHO IS REZA PAHLAVI?

Reza Pahlavi was born in 1960, in Tehran, the capital of Iran. He is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, whose regime was toppled in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

A proponent of liberal democracy, he is the founder and leader of the National Council of Iran, an exiled opposition group.

He advocates a free referendum to determine Iran's future system of government. Pahlavi was formally named Crown Prince in 1967 during his father's coronation. He has been active in the Iranian democracy movement and is a prominent critic of the Islamic Republic, led by the Ayatollah. He has repeatedly called for nationwide protests and for the removal of the current regime.


During the current protests, Pahlavi has once again announced his support for the movement.

Writing on X, he urged Iranians to "use every opportunity, gathering, and event in the coming days to expand this movement," and called for protestors to "honour each and every fallen hero of this national uprising" and "continue until the day Iran is free."

WHAT IS THE PAHLAVI DYNASTY AND WHY DID IT FALL?

The Pahlavi dynasty ruled Iran from 1925 to 1979.

It was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a British-trained military officer who rose to power after the Qajar dynasty was weakened and formally deposed in 1925. Reza Shah ruled until 1941, when a joint British and Soviet invasion during the Second World War forced him to abdicate in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Iran remained under Allied occupation for much of the war and emerged in 1946 as a constitutional monarchy. Political life briefly expanded, with major forces including the communist Tudeh Party and the National Front led by Mohammad Mosaddegh. Iran's brief tryst with democracy ended in 1953, when Mosaddegh, who had become prime minister and moved to nationalise Iran’s oil industry, was overthrown in a CIA and MI6-backed coup. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was restored as the dominant ruler.
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From 1953 to 1979, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi governed as an increasingly autocratic monarch. Oil revenues fuelled rapid economic growth and close ties with the United States and its allies. Major cities modernised quickly, but development remained uneven, and political freedoms were tightly restricted. The Shah's land reforms, Westernisation policies, and repression of dissent through the SAVAK secret police alienated religious leaders, traditional elites, and large sections of society. His extravagant lifestyle, highlighted by the costly 1971 Persepolis celebrations, further fuelled resentment.

Economic decline brought on by declining oil revenues and increased military spending, cultural backlash, and mounting opposition led by the exiled cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sparked mass protests from 1978.

The monarchy collapsed in 1979, paving the way for the establishment of the Islamic Republic.

The Shah and his family fled Iran, and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi died in exile in Egypt in 1980.

His son, Reza Pahlavi, who is now the crown prince and is living in exile in the United States, is supporting the anti-Ayatollah protestors in Iran.
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'JAVED SHAH': WHY TABOO SLOGAN NOW RULES THE STREETS OF IRAN?

The Pahlavi dynasty had been overthrown in 1979 as a result of a long-drawn period of unrest and resentment against the Shah. His push for modernity and harsh repression had led to economic inequality, cultural alienation, and united all facets of Iranian society under the religiously driven revolutionary movement led by Khomeini, the Uttar Pradesh-born predecessor of the incumbent Supreme leader.

After 1979, the Pahlavi Dynasty was widely hated, while the newly established Islamic Republic enjoyed popular support.

So what has changed in the last 47 years?

The Islamic Republic of Iran proved to be as repressive, if not more, than the Pahlavi Dynasty it had deposed.

The Ayatollah regime isolated Iran from the rest of the world, which led to the country entering an economic free fall from which it has yet to recover.

The regime's support for terrorist and extremist movements across the Middle East exacerbated the situation as the US and its allies imposed crippling sanctions on the country. The policies cut Iran off from the global economy.

The regime's heavy-handed imposition of Islamic rule and all of its practices has led to incalculable damage to Iran's rich cultural legacy.

Moreover, Iranians are no strangers to resistance and protests.

With the Iranian rial plunging to over 42,000 against the US dollar, and inflation rising to over 42%, the clerical regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is facing the biggest protest in three years.

"Many videos are coming in from Iran, showing people chanting in unison in the streets: 'Mullahs must leave Iran' and 'death to the dictatorship...' This is the voice of a people who do not want the Islamic Republic," Iranian-American journalist and author Masih Alinejad posted on X earlier this week.

The country has witnessed numerous mass protests and uprisings in its history against the most repressive of the Ayatollah's policies, such as the 2009–2010 Iranian presidential election protests, and the 2022–2023 Mahsa Amini protests.

But what makes the latest movement different from all the rest is the massive outpouring of support for the once hated Pahlavi Dynasty.

The slogan which now echoes on the streets of Iranian cities, "Javid Shah", is a call for restoration of what the Iranians had ousted decades ago.

Although the regime of the Ayatollahs has weathered many such protests and uprisings through brutal crackdowns, the question remains if it can this time? But one thing is crystal clear, the Pahlavi Dynasty has emerged as a face and force in the fight of the Iranians against the theocratic regime.

- Ends

CIA finds Ukraine did not target Putin residence as claim surfaces after Trump phone row

US intelligence briefs president says no evidence of drone strike on Russian leader as Moscow threats harden talks while Kyiv strongly denies the allegation

Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, Tyler Pager 

Published 02.01.26

The CIA has determined that Ukraine did not target President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia or one of his residences in an attack this week, according to US officials, rebutting an assertion Putin made in a phone call to President Donald Trump on Monday.

John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, briefed Trump on the finding, a person familiar with the matter said.

Trump has not directly acknowledged the intelligence, but on Wednesday, he posted on social media a link to a New York Post editorial that blamed Putin for standing in the way of a peace deal with Ukraine and cast doubt on the veracity of his claim that he was the target of an attack. On Monday, he had said he was “very angry” about the purported attack when Putin told him about it.

The CIA declined to comment, and the White House referred questions to Trump’s social media post.

Russia had used the claim to threaten to harden its stance in negotiations as thorny issues already appear to be hampering talks to end the war. But it has not presented any clear-cut evidence of the purported drone attack, which it said was aimed at Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region, a rural part of the country.

Instead, the finding by US intelligence officials, which was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, aligns with the Ukrainians, who adamantly denied the Russians’ allegations.

In a post on social media, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called the claim "a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war".

On Monday, even as Trump said he was angry about the purported attack, he conceded that he had no independent confirmation and that it was “possible” it had not happened.

“It’s a delicate period of time,” he said. “This is not the right time. It’s one thing to be offensive because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house.”

The episode came shortly after Trump and Zelensky met at Mar-a-Lago, the President’s private club and residence in Florida. The two leaders appeared upbeat on Sunday after meeting, though they appeared to make little progress on two of the biggest obstacles to lasting peace: security guarantees for Ukraine against future Russian aggression and Russia’s demands for Ukraine to cede significant amounts of territory.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, said on Wednesday that he and other senior administration officials had spoken with Rustem Umerov, a top Ukrainian national security official, and other European national security officials about their efforts to end the war.

“We focused on how to move the discussions forward in a practical way on behalf of @POTUS’ peace process, including strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” he wrote on social media, referring to Trump.

New York Times News Service

Russia hands to US what it says attempted Ukrainian strike on Putin residence

A Russian service member stands next to the remains of a drone, which, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, was downed during the repelling of an alleged Ukrainian attack on the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod Region, in an unknown location in Russia, in this still image from a video released Dec 31, 2025.
PHOTO: Russian Defence Ministry via Reuters file

PUBLISHED ONJanuary 01, 2026 


MOSCOW — A senior Russian military chief handed to a US military attache on Thursday (Jan 1) what he said was part of a Ukrainian drone containing data he said proved that the Ukrainian military this week had targeted a Russian presidential residence.

Moscow accused Kyiv on Monday of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin in Russia's northern Novgorod region with 91 long-range attack drones. It said Russia would review its negotiating position in ongoing talks with the US on ending the Ukraine war.

Ukraine and Western countries have disputed Russia's account of the alleged attempted strike.

A video posted on the Russian Defence Ministry's Telegram channel showed Admiral Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, handing to the US attache what he described as the controlling mechanism of a drone found among downed fragments.

"The decryption of the content of the memory of the navigation controller of the drones carried out by specialists of Russia's special services confirms without question that the target of the attack was the complex of buildings of the Russian president's residence in Novgorod region," Kostyukov said.

"We presume that this measure will do away with any questions and allow for the truth to be established."

The Ministry had earlier posted a statement on Telegram saying its findings would be turned over to the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that US national security officials had found Ukraine did not target Putin or one of his residences in a drone strike. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

US President Donald Trump initially expressed sympathy for the Russian charge, telling reporters on Monday that Putin had informed him of the alleged incident and that he was "very angry" about it.

By Wednesday, Trump appeared more sceptical, sharing on social media a New York Post editorial accusing Russia of blocking peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine has denied carrying out such an attack and described the accusation as part of a Russian disinformation campaign meant to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Washington after a weekend meeting between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Turkmenistan legalises crypto mining and exchanges in shift for economy

Legislation signed by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov establishes a licensing scheme overseen by country’s central bank.

Since succeeding his father as president in 2022, Serdar Berdymukhamedov has signalled some opening in the country, but social media remains highly regulated by the government [File: Adem Altan/AFP]

By News Agencies
Published On 2 Jan 2026

Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most isolated nations, has officially legalised mining and exchanging cryptocurrency in a major shift for the country’s tightly controlled, gas-dependent economy.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed the legislation on Thursday, regulating virtual assets under civil law and establishing a licensing scheme for cryptocurrency exchanges overseen by the country’s central bank.

However, digital currencies will still not be recognised as a means of payment, currency or security.

Turkmenistan, a former Soviet country in Central Asia, relies heavily on the export of its vast natural gas reserves to support its economy.

China is the country’s main importer of gas, and Turkmenistan is currently working on a pipeline to supply gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Turkmenistan has been taking steps to digitalise government functions as well as its economy.

In April, it adopted a law introducing electronic visas aimed at simplifying entry for foreigners.

After gaining independence in 1991, the tightly governed nation typically placed strict entry requirements on would-be visitors, with many visa applications turned down for unclear reasons.

A mostly desert country of seven million people with the world’s fourth-largest natural gas reserves, Turkmenistan declared itself officially neutral in 1995 under its first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who spurned both Western and Russian influence.

Until his death in 2006, Niyazov maintained tight control over politics, a policy of isolationism from the outside world, and an economy heavily based on natural gas exports.


Since succeeding his father as president in 2022, Berdymukhamedov has signalled some opening.

In December, he hinted at possible political reforms ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian.

“We are carrying out extensive work aimed at transforming our neutral country into a powerful, democratic, and rule-of-law state where citizens live happy lives,” Berdymukhamedov said in the article, without giving further details.

While Turkmenistan’s internet remains tightly regulated and controlled by the government, curbs on social media have been eased, and the government has pledged to open new air transport links and liberalise its visa system.

Still, the country is ranked by the Committee to Protect Journalists as one of the worst in the world for independent media.

Kyrgyzstan, another former Soviet Central Asian republic, has also positioned itself as a regional leader in the sector, launching a national stablecoin in partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Year of the bizarre: Strange and shocking events of 2025 capture global headlines

Roundup of the year’s strangest news reveals a world full of surprises

Dildar Baykan Atalay and Gizem Nisa Demir |02.01.2026 - TRT/AA

- A look back at 2025 shows a year defined not only by global politics but by weird, unbelievable incidents that stunned audiences worldwide

ANKARA/ISTANBUL

With the new year just beginning, looking back at 2025 reveals a period marked not only by major political developments but also by a remarkable string of strange and unusual events that made headlines around the world.

From an Italian village where getting sick was forbidden to drug-addicted mice in a police evidence locker, and from a thieving monkey lured by coffee to a woman who woke up in her own coffin, these incidents provided moments of astonishment, humor, and sheer disbelief.

January

Italy bans illness while drug-addicted mice raid evidence locker

The year began with some of its most peculiar stories.

In Italy, the small village of Belcastro, with a population of 1,200 and located 28 miles (45 kilometers) from the nearest hospital, saw its local government issue an extraordinary decree: residents were instructed to avoid getting sick.

The ordinance explicitly stated that villagers should steer clear of illnesses requiring emergency medical intervention.

It urged residents to "refrain from potentially harmful behaviors, avoid domestic accidents, not go out too often, not travel or play sports, and instead rest most of the time."

Mayor Antonio Torchia described the act as a "humorous provocation" aimed at exposing the inadequacies of the regional healthcare system. He noted that the roads to the hospital posed "more risk than any disease," highlighting the perilous journey for those in need of care.

Meanwhile, in the US, the Houston Police Department in Texas reported a unique infestation.

An evidence locker containing approximately 180 tons of confiscated narcotics had become the target of mice.

Police officials said they were struggling to combat the "drug-addicted" rodents, which had consumed a significant quantity of the substances.

They emphasized the challenge of the situation, noting that the disposal of the remaining drugs must still adhere to strict environmental procedures.

February

Uninvited guest in a Dutch hotel room

In February, a guest at a hotel near the coast in Vlissingen, Netherlands received a startling surprise.

Upon entering their room, the customer discovered a seal fast asleep on the floor. The guest immediately notified hotel staff about the uninvited visitor.

After being awakened, the seal reportedly became grumpy but was safely handed over to authorities to be released back into its natural habitat.

March

Thief who swallowed earrings valued around $769,000

A brazen heist took place in the US state of Florida in March.

A thief named Jaythan Gilder posed as an assistant to an NBA basketball player to gain access to a special collection at a jewelry store. While distracting the staff, Gilder swallowed a pair of earrings valued at approximately $769,000.

He also stole a ring worth $575,000 before being apprehended shortly after. Gilder was kept under hospital supervision for days until the earrings were recovered through natural means.

Officials confirmed the jewelry was authenticated and returned to the store.

April

Man unknowingly buys his own stolen car; woodpecker 'charged' with vandalism

April brought a case of incredible coincidence in the UK.

A man named Ewan Valentine, whose car had been stolen, unknowingly purchased his own vehicle back.

After reporting the theft to the police, he found what he thought was an identical car for sale online. He didn't suspect anything initially because the license plate had been changed.

However, Valentine grew suspicious over time as he discovered personal belongings in the trunk and found his own home address saved in the car's navigation system.

Across the Atlantic in the US state of Massachusetts, a woodpecker was blamed for causing damage to more than 25 vehicles in a neighborhood. Resident Janelle Favaloro captured a photo of the avian culprit in the act.

In a social media post, she humorously reported the perpetrator: "There's a punk in our neighborhood. The punk has been identified as being 18 to 24 inches tall, dressed in black and white, and wearing a red hat."

The woodpecker primarily targeted reflective surfaces like side-view mirrors and windows. It is believed that the bird, likely in its mating season, was mistaking its own reflection for a rival. In response, some residents began covering their cars to prevent further damage.

May

Monkeys kidnap infants of another species for unknown reasons

In May, researchers from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior made a baffling discovery on Jicaron Island, Panama.

They observed white-faced capuchin monkeys "kidnapping" the infants of another species, howler monkeys, for no apparent reason. Video evidence showed the capuchins snatching the young howler monkeys when they were isolated in the treetops.

Researchers are still unable to explain this behavior but speculate that the capuchins' parental instincts may be misdirected, leading them to "adopt" the young of another species.

June

Hungry elephant helps itself to snacks in Thai market

A wild elephant in Thailand went on a snack run in June.

The owner of a convenience store shared security camera footage of the large animal wandering into his shop. The footage showed the hungry elephant using its trunk to grab and eat snacks from the shelves.

The owner reported that the elephant consumed about nine packs of rice crackers, a sandwich, and several bananas. Staff from a nearby national park were called to help coax the elephant out, and it eventually left the store on its own.

July

'Service with lions' at Chinese restaurant sparks investigation

An unusual dining experience at a restaurant in China's Shanxi province drew media attention in July.

The establishment was reportedly offering an afternoon tea service where, for a fee of 1,078 yuan ($154) for four people, customers could interact with lions. The service also included opportunities for patrons to pet deer and alpacas.

A restaurant employee defended the practice, claiming they had obtained the necessary permits and were "operating like a zoo."

However, the local forestry department issued a statement clarifying that close interaction between humans and such animals is prohibited and announced that an investigation had been launched into the matter.

August

Stolen WWII painting found in real estate ad; zoo asks for pet donations

A long-lost piece of art surfaced in an unexpected place in August.

"Portrait of a Lady," a painting by Italian artist Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi that was stolen from the Netherlands during World War II, was spotted hanging on the wall of a house in a real estate listing in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Researchers from the Dutch government's cultural heritage unit said there was "no need to question its authenticity," though formal verification would be required upon recovery.

The painting was later digitally removed from the 3D tour in the online listing.

Argentine police raided the home to find the artwork, which had been missing for over 80 years. While the painting was not found, police seized weapons and carvings that could be useful to the investigation, which is now focused on charges of "concealment and trafficking of the artwork."

In Denmark, the Aalborg Zoo caused a public outcry by announcing that it would accept "pet donations" to feed its predators, such as the European lynx. An announcement on the zoo's Instagram account called on the public to donate "small pets" like chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, as well as live horses.

The post emphasized that donated animals would be "gently euthanized" by trained staff before being used as food.

"Thus, nothing is wasted, and we ensure the natural behavior, nutrition, and welfare of our predators," the statement said.

The zoo even offered a tax deduction to owners who donated healthy horses shorter than 147 centimeters. The announcement was met with widespread public condemnation.

September

Woman scammed by fake astronaut; grandfather picks up wrong child from daycare

September saw a scam of cosmic proportions in Japan.

An 80-year-old woman on the island of Hokkaido was defrauded after meeting a man on social media who pretended to be an astronaut.

The scammer convinced her that his spaceship was under attack and he urgently needed cash to purchase oxygen. The woman sent him approximately 1 million yen (around $6,377).

In Sydney, Australia, a grandfather experienced a stressful mix-up when he went to pick up his grandchild from daycare. He was mistakenly given the wrong child and went home without realizing the error.

The child's mother discovered the mistake upon their arrival, leading to a panic. The grandfather quickly returned the child to the daycare, resolving the situation. The teacher responsible for the mix-up was suspended and an investigation into the daycare center was initiated.

October

Escaped monkey captured with a cup of coffee

A clever tactic led to the capture of an escaped monkey in the US state of South Carolina.

A spider monkey named "Ava" fled from her owner during an autumn festival in the town of Eutawville. Town officials began searching for the primate after learning she was roaming free.

Although they located Ava quickly, she refused to approach any humans. In a stroke of ingenuity, officials placed a cup of coffee on the ground to pique her curiosity. As Ava approached to investigate the coffee, authorities were able to safely capture her and return her to her owner.

November

Woman declared dead wakes up in coffin

One of the year's most shocking events occurred in Thailand in November.

A 65-year-old woman who had been brought to a funeral home for her own funeral was discovered to be alive.

Staff at the funeral home heard noises coming from her coffin and then noticed her moving. The woman's brother explained that she had been bedridden for the past two years and had stopped breathing two days earlier.

She had been transported 310 miles (499 kilometers) in the coffin for the funeral service. Upon the discovery that she was alive, the woman was immediately rushed to a hospital.

*This article is a special report compiling the most remarkable events that made headlines worldwide in 2025, based on coverage by Anadolu correspondent Dildar Baykan Atalay​​​​​​​*

*Originally written in Turkish, it was later translated and adapted into English by Anadolu correspondent Gizem Nisa Demir*