Iran supreme leader acknowledges thousands killed during recent protests
Iran's supreme leader has for the first time publicly acknowledged that thousands of people were killed during recent protests, BBC reported.
In a speech on Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said thousands had been killed, "some in an inhuman, savage manner", and blamed the US for the deaths.
A violent response to the unrest has claimed 3,090 lives, according to US-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), with some activist groups putting the death toll far higher. An internet blackout has made it extremely difficult to get clear information, according to BBC.
Trump tariff threat over Greenland 'unacceptable', European leaders say
A threat by President Donald Trump to impose fresh tariffs on eight allies opposed to his proposed takeover of Greenland has drawn condemnation from European leaders, BBC reported.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move was "completely wrong", while French President Emmanuel Macron called it "unacceptable".
The comments came after Trump announced a 10% tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland would come into force on 1 February but could later rise to 25% - and would last until a deal was reached, according to BBC.
South Korea’s ex-president Yoon given 5-year jail term in martial law case
A court in South Korea has sentenced the country’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to five years in jail after finding him guilty on charges stemming from his declaration of martial law in December 2024, Aljazeera reported.
Yoon was found guilty on Friday of charges that include obstructing authorities from executing an arrest warrant related to his martial law declaration, as well as fabricating official documents and failing to comply with the legal process required to impose martial law.
At Seoul’s Central District Court on Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun said Yoon had failed to uphold the Constitution and rule of law, according to Aljazeera.
US seizes sixth tanker as Venezuela’s interim leader vows oil sector reform
United States forces have seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean that the Trump administration said had links to Venezuela, the sixth tanker vessel detained as Washington moves to take full control of Venezuelan oil resources, Aljazeera reported.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the US Coast Guard had boarded the tanker Veronica early on Thursday.
Noem said the vessel had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean”.
