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  • Top Ukrainian Negotiator Says Talks With US to Continue in Davos

    Jan 18 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov ‌said ​on Sunday that talks ‌with U.S. officials on a resolution of the nearly ​four-year-old war with Russia would continue at the World Economic Forum opening this ‍week in the Swiss resort ​of Davos.

    Umerov, writing on Telegram, said two days of talks in ​Florida with ⁠a U.S. team including envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had focused on security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan for Ukraine.

    He gave no indication whether any agreements had been achieved at ‌the meeting.

    “We agreed to continue work at the team level during the ​next ‌phase of consultations in ‍Davos,” Umerov ⁠wrote.

    The two sides, in the latest of a series of meetings intended to work out the details of an agreement, had “discussed in depth” the two issues, “focusing on practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them,” Umerov said.

    He said his delegation had reported on Russian strikes last week which badly damaged Ukraine’s energy ​infrastructure and left hundreds of apartment buildings with no heating or electricity.

    President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was important to outline the dire effects of the Russian strikes as they demonstrated that Russia was not interested in diplomacy.

    “If the Russians were seriously interested in ending the war, they would have focused on diplomacy,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

    He said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that Russia was conducting reconnaissance on key sites in preparation for strikes, ​including targets linked to Ukraine’s nuclear power stations.

    Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Saturday that there was evidence Russia was considering attacks on power substations supplying nuclear power stations.

    Russia has made no comment ​on the allegations.

    (Reporting by Ron Popeski in Winnipeg; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Matthew Lewis)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • Under fire from the sea, families in Odesa try to escape Russian barrage

    From Mariia’s 16th-floor flat, the calm waters of the Black Sea stretch out into the horizon beneath the fading twilight.

    “Up here you can see and hear when the drones come,” she says, standing by a wall-length, floor-to-ceiling window. When they hit buildings and homes in the city of Odesa down below “we see all the fires too”.

    Her daughter Eva, who is nine, has learned the shapes and sounds of the objects that zoom through the sky on a daily basis. She proudly shows off a list of social media channels she checks when the air raid alerts go off.

    “She knows whether what’s coming is a risk or a threat, and that calms her down,” her father Sergii says.

    There is scarcely a place in Ukraine that has not been targeted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly four years ago.

    But in recent weeks Odesa – Ukraine’s third largest city – has come under sustained attack. Through strikes on port and energy infrastructure, Russia is trying to cripple the region’s economy and dent the population’s morale.

    A view of a recent drone attack from Sergii’s window [Supplied]

    Moscow, however, does not just hit facilities. Its drones, mostly as big as a motorcycle, regularly crash into high-rise buildings like Masha’s, exploding on impact and blowing glass and debris inward. The consequences are often deadly.

    “A few months ago Eva said she was afraid the drone would come too fast and we wouldn’t have time to hide,” Mariia says. “But I explained that if it came towards us, it would get louder and louder and then we’d know we have to run.”

    Mariia, Sergii and Eva are originally from Kherson, a region 200km (125m) to the east of Odesa which is now in large part occupied by Russia.

    They left as soon as the invasion started in 2022 and mother and daughter briefly moved to Germany as refugees. But Sergii and Mariia could not bear the distance, so the family reunited in Ukraine and moved to Odesa.

    Now, as attacks on the region intensify, Sergii wonders whether the family should prepare to leave again. “War is only about economics, and Odesa for the Russians is about infrastructure, so they will do their best to conquer it,” he says.

    Tucked in south-western Ukraine, Odesa was an economic powerhouse before the war. But now that Russia occupies the majority of Ukraine’s coastline, the region has become even more vital. Its three ports are Ukraine’s largest and include the country’s only deep-water port. With land crossings disrupted, 90% of Ukraine exports last year were shipped by sea.

    But in wartime the region’s importance is also its weakness.

    Last month, Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on the “shadow fleet” tankers Russia uses to circumvent sanctions.

    That threat has translated into concrete impact. For two years, Russia’s attempts to thwart Odesa’s economy have been near-relentless – but the last few weeks have been particularly difficult.

    Aerial attacks on the ports have destroyed cargo and containers and damaged infrastructure; crew members on foreign merchant ships operating in the Gulf of Odesa have been injured or killed by drones; and 800 air-raid alerts in a year repeatedly halted port operations.

    A view of Odesa during a blackout

    Power outages have plunged much of Odesa into darkness since December [Getty Images]

    The result last year was a 45% decrease in exports of agricultural products, vital to Odesa’s economy.

    The day after a drone strike this week set a Panamanian-flagged ship alight and severely injured one of its crew members, regional government head Oleh Kiper said that shipowners entering Odesa ports “clearly understand that they are entering a war zone” and that the ships were insured.

    But if such attacks continue, in the long run foreign companies may be put off trading with the port.

    A woman wearing a blue jacket and hat stands in front of a damaged building

    “After a strike like last night’s, the people who live here will go to shelters for some time, then they will relax again,” says Maryna Averina of the State Emergency Service [BBC]

    As the strikes surge, air sirens go off frequently, but not everyone heeds them. Standing in front of a destroyed gym the morning after an overnight drone strike that injured seven people, Maryna Averina of the State Emergency Service concedes people have become “very careless about their own safety”.

    A recent air raid alert lasted for most of the day. “Sitting in a shelter for 16 hours is simply unrealistic,” Averina says, as gym staff emerge from the destroyed building with whatever objects they have managed to salvage from the rubble and mangled metal inside.

    While many Ukrainians are now sadly accustomed to the drone and missile strikes, they are increasingly frayed by the relentless attacks that cut off electricity and heating in the middle of a particularly biting winter.

    In December, almost a million people in Odesa were left with no power. “We were among the first regions to experience what it means to go through the winter period without electricity and without heating,” says Oleh Kiper.

    A woman and a toddler wearing warm tops and hats embrace on the beach

    “I live in hope that all this will end soon,” says Yana. “We’ve all been living like this for four years now, but unfortunately, for now it’s how it is.” [BBC]

    A month later, as temperatures hover around -1C, the supply remains severely disrupted.

    Ada, 36, is strolling on the beach, unfazed by the wail of air alert sirens mingling with the squawking of seagulls. The drone attacks have ramped up but, she says, “the shelling isn’t as scary as this cold is”.

    Nearby, a young mum named Yana agrees. Recently, she says, the situation across the board “has been really, really difficult”. At one point, a drone crashed into her flat, and another one hit the block soon afterwards.

    Then came the power cuts. She and her family bought an expensive generator, but running it for seven hours costs around $10 – a significant expense in a country where the average monthly salary is around $500 (£375).

    “We’ve all been living like this for four years now, unfortunately. We’re as helpless as flies, and everything is just being decided between the authorities,” she says, while struggling to keep her shrieking toddler out of the icy water.

    “Maybe we’re being punished for something – the whole nation, not just a few, but everyone.”

    Further down the beach, Kostya is fishing on a jetty stretching out into the sea. He says he is not worried about the Russians advancing to the city. “I don’t think they’ll make it here. [The Ukrainians] will break their legs first.”

    But, he adds, things are painful, and scary. And like many Ukrainians he still seems to struggle to accept that war came to his country four years ago, waged by a neighbour he once knew so well.

    In his youth, Kostya served in the army and swore an oath to the Soviet Union. “I never imagined that I would see something like this in my old age,” he says.

    While Russian propagandists have long insisted that Ukraine’s independence since 1991 is a historical mistake, Odesa’s past role as the jewel in the crown of the Russian empire means it still holds particularly strong symbolic importance for Moscow.

    Vladimir Putin has repeatedly referred to Odesa as a “Russian city” and frequently invoked the notion of “liberating Novorossiya”, a historical region of the Russian empire that encompassed parts of modern southern and eastern Ukraine, including Odesa.

    “They wanted and they still want to seize Odesa, just like many other regions, but today everything possible and impossible is being done by our military to prevent this from happening,” insists the regional government leader.

    A large statue in the middle of a square is dismantled

    A statue of Russian empress Catherine the Great, the founder of Odesa, was among the first to be dismantled [Getty Images]

    Oleh Kiper has made it a personal mission to sever any perceived remaining ties that Odesa has with Russia. He is a staunch supporter of a 2023 Law on Decolonisation, which directed local authorities to rid their cities of any street names, monuments or inscriptions that could be linked to Russia’s imperial past.

    Among the statues to be removed was a monument to the founder of Odesa, Russian Empress Catherine the Great, while streets named after Russian and Soviet figures were renamed. Pushkin Street became Italian Street, and Catherine Street is now European Street. Kiper also champions the usage of Ukrainian in a city where Russian is still very widely spoken.

    Asked about the resistance he meets from Odesites who are proud of their heritage as a multicultural port to the world, he is defiant.

    “The enemy is doing far more than we are to ensure that a Russian-speaking city becomes Ukrainian,” says Kiper. “It is forcing people to understand who the Russians are and whether we need them at all.”

    The following day, as temperatures dropped to -6C, the city marked one month of partial blackouts, and air raid alerts were in force for four hours. The port of Chernomorsk, east of Odesa, was again hit by a ballistic missile, injuring a crew member on a civilian ship.

    As is the case with the rest of Ukraine, if Russia cannot have Odesa, it seems determined to continue crippling it.

    Additional reporting by Liubov Sholudko

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  • MARTIN GURRI: Let’s look at all the global benefits Trump reaped by grabbing Maduro

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    A certain class of analysts was purported to be scandalized by the American night raid on Venezuela that snatched away strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

    China has been given a green light to invade Taiwan. Russia is finally free to trespass on… I don’t know, maybe Ukraine?

    Even by today’s declining standards, that line of analysis is pathetically shallow.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THERE WON’T BE A ‘SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKS’ AGAINST VENEZUELA DUE TO THEIR ‘COOPERATION’

    Neither Xi Jinping nor Vladimir Putin look to the U.S. for permission. The opposite is closer to the truth: They wish to make trouble and undermine the hegemonic power.

    Russia assaulted Ukraine and China conducted naval exercises in Taiwanese territorial waters, all without filling out the White House’s “Permission to Invade” form.

    What will be the lesson, for Xi and Putin, of the Great Venezuela Raid?

    I would think it’s this: that Trump will run enormous risks to protect American interests.

    TALARICO, AUCHINCLOSS: TRUMP’S BLOOD FOR OIL STRATEGY IS AS RECKLESS AS IT IS ILLEGAL

    I leave it to the intelligent reader to reflect on whether this will encourage or discourage rash adventures.

    Trump has no wish to carve the world like an apple into spheres of influence, in which China, Russia and the U.S. can plunder smaller nations at will.

    His meddling in conflicts in Africa and Asia is proof of that — and anyone who has observed Trump for longer than half a minute will know he doesn’t set boundaries on his actions.

    In reality, Trump’s style in geopolitical gamesmanship is without precedent, at least in my experience.

    TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET

    In any given theater, he looks for the tactical strike that will utterly alter the strategic landscape to our country’s advantage.

    What will be the lesson, for Xi and Putin, of the Great Venezuela Raid? I would think it’s this: that Trump will run enormous risks to protect American interests.

    After allowing the Israelis to plow and seed the field in Iran, Trump harvested a strategic victory by dropping bunker-busting bombs on the regime’s nuclear facilities. From that moment, events in the Middle East tilted in our direction — and the negative consequences for Iran continue to multiply as I write this.

    In the same manner, the extraction of Maduro from his Venezuelan fortress has had a domino effect favorable to the U.S., not just in Latin America but around the world.

    Let me count the ways.

    IN VENEZUELA ITSELF

    Here the dice are still rolling, and the final effects of the raid won’t be known for months, possibly years. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio chose to retain the Maduro people in power over the Venezuelan democratic opposition — a gamble on stability against the possibility of chaos and violence.

    It could backfire, but the signs so far look encouraging.

    The new Venezuelan president, Delcy Rodriguez, who happened to be Maduro’s vice president, has been sweet-talking the Trump administration. She may have played a part in the overthrow of her former boss.

    LIZ PEEK: TRUMP IS PUTTING AMERICA FIRST BY BACKING IRAN INTO A CORNER

    American officials are in Caracas, setting up shop. The Cubans, Russians and Chinese would seem to be out in the cold. Political prisoners are being released.

    Most importantly from a strategic perspective, the Venezuelan oil industry is about to be resurrected with help from U.S. companies — and Venezuelan oil will soon flood global markets.

    CUBA

    Its once-vaunted military and intelligence personnel protected Maduro. In a humiliating blow to the country’s prestige, they were wiped out without much of a fight.

    Cuba imports all of its energy but lacks the foreign currency to keep the lights burning. Venezuelan oil, offered on a bartered basis, made up 60 percent of fuel imports.

    That’s now gone with the wind. Whatever still functions in the Cuban economy is about to disintegrate into darkness and silence.

    President Trump said that the post-Castro regime is “ready to fall.” He also threatened, in his inimitable all-caps fashion, “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!”

    Nothing is certain.

    But if the Cuban military, who already run the country, believe that their equipment will grind to a stop within weeks, they may decide to do away with their Communist Party intermediaries and cut a deal with Yankee imperialism.

    LATIN AMERICA

    The region was already trending rightwards — Maduro’s fall will only accelerate this tendency. Conservative governments applauded American intervention, something unheard-of in Latin America.

    Radical leftist governments, on the other hand, are in a panic.

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro, once a leader of the Marxist M-19 guerrillas, made worried noises about his own fate. He got a reassuring call from the president and will visit the White House in February.

    LAWMAKER WHO FLED COMMUNISM DRAFTS SPECIAL RESOLUTION HONORING TRUMP AFTER MADURO OUSTER

    Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, normally addicted to repression, decided to release political prisoners in imitation of Delcy Rodriguez.

    Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega arrives for the inauguration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 10, 2019. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    He also canceled an anniversary celebration — just in case the U.S. military were looking to pick off more unfriendly Latin American presidents.

    CHINA

    One condition Trump placed on Rodriguez is that Venezuela end its alliance with China and Russia. Eager to survive, Rodriguez appears willing to do so.

    If that is the case, Maduro’s departure will represent a strategic disaster for Xi — the loss not only of its most useful ally in the region but of access to 800,000 barrels of cheap oil per day, along with the total loss of what has been called China’s “$100 billion gamble” on Venezuela.

    In addition, Maduro’s lair was ringed with Chinese military technology, including air defense systems. They were neutralized with remarkable ease.

    When Xi calculates the cost of invading Taiwan, he must now add the fact that the Chinese mainland itself appears vulnerable to attack from the air.

    IRAN

    Venezuela had become a playground for Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hezbollah. No more.

    As the Islamic regime battles to survive a fierce street revolt, Trump has condemned the slaughter of civilians and told protesters “help is on the way.”

    The fate of Nicolás Maduro thus weighs heavily on the ayatollahs’ minds.

    The anti-regime protesters also see the parallel with Venezuela and have cheered the president on. Video can be found of a young man, somewhere in Iran, solemnly changing a street sign to “President Trump Street.”’

    EUROPE

    Venezuela demonstrated — once again — the absolute irrelevance of the Old World in times of crisis.

    European governments couldn’t help or hinder the U.S., before or after the attack. They merely muttered from the sidelines.

    Mostly they complained about U.S. violation of international law — but then overcame their scruples long enough to inquire about the payment of Venezuelan debt to European energy companies.

    WAS TRUMP’S MADURO OPERATION ILLEGAL? WHAT INTERNATIONAL LAW HAS TO SAY

    In 10 years of repetitive squabbles, the Europeans have yet to figure out how to live in Donald Trump’s world. They have yet to admit that their static “rules-based order” has been swept away by a tempest of change of which Trump is simply the avatar, not the cause.

    It would be unfortunate if Europe’s limpness in the geopolitical arena emboldened the president to swallow Greenland whole.

    RUSSIA

    On this country will fall the most complex set of consequences.

    Even more than China, Russia enjoyed a formal “strategic partnership” with Maduro, explicitly aimed at the U.S.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shake hands.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shake hands as they exchange documents during a signing ceremony following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 7, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

    Venezuela purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Russian military equipment, aircraft and weaponry. Russia propped up Maduro on the world stage and endorsed his blatantly manipulated elections.

    SOCIALISM COST ME MY COUNTRY. TRUMP ARRESTING MADURO MIGHT HELP US GET IT BACK

    Putin and Maduro stood shoulder to shoulder in Moscow as recently as May 2025.

    All of that ended literally overnight. Yet, curiously, the Russians reacted to the fiasco by saying little and doing nothing.

    What’s going on?

    There is, with Russia, a bigger picture to consider.

    The country is stuck deep in the bog of the Ukraine war and has limited room to maneuver elsewhere. Western sanctions have driven Putin to a position of complete dependence on China.

    The strategic intent of Trump and his people, I believe, is to sever that link.

    They want Russia to be a competitor rather than a satellite of China. That would explain the sustained effort to broker the end to a war that otherwise has distracted and diminished an antagonistic power.

    Because Russia is a major exporter of oil and natural gas, its economy rises and falls with the global price of those commodities.

    Trump has clearly seized on this. He has hardened the sanctions on the purchase of Russian fuel, even as he works overtime to bring down the cost of energy.

    The ouster of Maduro evidently plays into this scheme. The president expects to unleash a gusher of Venezuelan oil on the markets.

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

    It’s his usual trick — a tactical blow that generates enough strategic leverage to nudge Russia into peace with Ukraine.

    In this case, it hasn’t happened yet.

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    Possibly, it never will — Putin, after all, represents the Russian bear, whereas Maduro resembled a noisier but far less dangerous denizen of the tropical canopy. Frustrating American presidents is a habit the Russian leader has refined over the decades.

    But it is a sign of the strange moment we are living through — and, it may be, of Trump’s skill at converting tactics into strategic outcomes — that we can imagine a raid on a Caribbean dictator helping to end a bloody war in Eastern Europe’s heart of darkness.

    CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MARTIN GURRI

    Martin Gurri is author of “The Revolt of the Public,” a former CIA analyst, and presently a visiting fellow at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University.

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  • Silent Shield: How Finland’s Sensofusion is neutralising the drone threat – Tech Digest

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    AirFence7: Sensofusion’s state-of-the-art passive drone detection system used by military and law enforcement

    As we approach the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24th February, 2026, Chris Price talks to Sensofusion’s Mikko Hyppönen about how drone warfare is evolving…

    In the historic “Musta Hevonen” (Black Horse) dining room of Helsinki’s Sea Horse restaurant, a venue that has hosted artists and thinkers since 1933, Mikko Hyppönen, Chief Research Officer of Sensofusion, details the technical and geopolitical realities of a new era of warfare.

    Hyppönen, a globally recognized authority on cybersecurity, has shifted much of his focus of late towards drones – in particular, how these devices, which were once seen as important tools for civilian security, have become a vital tool of warfare.

    It’s a transition that’s perhaps not all that surprising for a nation sharing a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia.

    Mikko Hyppönen gives a TEDx talk about the surveillance state in 2013. https://www.ted.com/talks/mikko_hypponen_how_the_nsa_betrayed_the_world_s_trust_time_to_act

    Drone warfare

    According to Hyppönen, the conflict in Ukraine has undergone a radical transformation in the last four years. During the initial phase of the invasion, the combat largely mirrored the trench warfare of World War I, characterized by infantry and heavy armour. However, the battlefield rapidly evolved into what is now defined as a “drone war.”

    “Today in Ukraine, drones kill more people than all the other weapons combined,” Hyppönen states during his talk in Helsinki. “Rifles, grenades and artillery combined have killed fewer people than drones.”

    The escalation began with consumer-grade quadcopters adapted to drop small munitions, but it has since developed into a sophisticated hierarchy of systems. These include long-range reconnaissance wings that provide constant surveillance as well as high-speed “kamikaze” or FPV (First Person View) drones used for precision strikes.

    Hyppönen believes this change is permanent: “This is the new reality of warfare. It’s no longer about who has the most tanks, but who can control the lower airspace.”

    From prisons to battlegrounds

    Sensofusion’s entry into the defence sector was not the company’s original intent. Initially, the firm focused on protecting civilian infrastructure, such as parliament buildings and airports, and preventing the smuggling of contraband into prisons. The pivot to active combat was driven by the immediate needs of the Ukrainian military at the onset of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

    Hyppönen recounts how the company’s founder, Tuomas Rasila, received an urgent inquiry from Ukraine regarding whether their technology could withstand a live battlefield environment. “Tuomas answered that we have no idea, but we’ll come over and we’ll try,” Hyppönen recalls. Within days, the founders packed a van with their drone defence equipment and drove directly into the conflict zone.

    “They left two million euros worth of gear in Ukraine on their first trip, and we’ve been operating in Ukraine ever since,” he adds. Currently, more than 100 Sensofusion systems are active in Ukraine, with deployments saving lives by providing early warnings of incoming aerial threats that would otherwise go undetected.

    A pocket-sized anti-drone device, Airfence Mini is the most portable Airfence solution

    Airfence: The architecture of passive defence

    The core of Sensofusion’s defensive capability is its flagship product, Airfence. While popular media often focuses on “hard kill” solutions such as lasers or kinetic interceptors, Hyppönen argued that the most effective defence begins with intelligence and signal analysis.

    Airfence is a portable, 10-kilogram unit designed to meet rigorous military standards as well as IP67 certification for water and dust resistance. Unlike traditional radar systems, which are “active” and emit radio waves to detect objects, Airfence is a “passive” system. That’s because, in a modern conflict, broadcasting a signal is hazardous as it allows enemy electronic intelligence (ELINT) units to locate and target the defender.

    “Airfence tells you where the drones are without telling the enemy where you are,” Hyppönen explains. “You get a map that tells you there’s a drone at a specific height, going in a specific direction, and it identifies the serial number of the drone.”

    Beyond simple detection, the system exploits the communication link between the drone and its operator. “In many cases, it will also tell you where the pilot is. Here’s the drone, here’s the pilot – this is critical information in a battlefield,” Hyppönen adds. By identifying the operator’s location, the system allows for a counter-response that addresses the source of the threat, rather than just the expendable drone itself.

    Autonomous and fibre-optic drones

    Inevitably, the technical battle is a continuous cycle of measures and countermeasures. Hyppönen highlights two emerging challenges that are complicating drone defence: autonomy and physical tethers.

    As electronic warfare (EW) becomes more prevalent, drone operators are moving toward “autonomous” flight, where the drone no longer requires a constant radio link to its pilot. Once a target is identified, the drone’s onboard AI takes over the final approach, making traditional jamming ineffective.

    Furthermore, some specialized drones now use fibre-optic cables to communicate, completely bypassing the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.

    “When there is no radio link, there is nothing to jam,” Hyppönen explains. This evolution necessitates advanced sensor fusion—combining RF detection with optical and acoustic sensors—to ensure comprehensive coverage. Sensofusion is currently developing its software to address these “dark” drones that do not broadcast traditional signatures.

    Finland’s ‘deep tech’ ecosystem

    The development of Airfence is a product of Finland’s unique technological landscape. As one of the most digitized countries in Europe, the Nordic country has created an ecosystem characterized by high R&D investment and a “culture of trust.” This environment allows for “deep tech”to move quickly from the laboratory to the field.

    Hyppönen points out that Finland’s proximity to Russia necessitates a proactive approach to security. “Finland lives next to a very large and a very unpredictable country. Right now, we are two hours away from the Russian border,” he says. Certainly this geographic reality has focused Finnish innovation on resilience and dual-use technologies that serve both civilian and military purposes.

    The Finnish government, through agencies such as Business Finland, supports this innovation by fostering collaboration between private companies and research institutions. This synergy ensures that Finnish companies can develop high-end signal processing and AI capabilities that are world-leading.

    Civilian applications

    While the current focus is understandably heavily weighted toward defence, Hyppönen explains that the drone threat is also a civilian concern. Sensofusion continues to serve customers in the civilian sector, protecting airports and critical infrastructure from disruption. He cites instances where consumer drones have shut down major airport traffic, causing massive economic loss.

    “98% of our customers today are military, but the technology remains essential for civilian safety,” Hyppönen adds. Most commercial drones from major manufacturers such as DJI have “no-fly zone” warnings, but these do not physically prevent a drone from entering restricted airspace if the operator chooses to bypass them.

    Passive detection systems such as Airfence allow authorities to monitor these incursions without interfering with legitimate communication networks, such as emergency services or airport Wi-Fi.

    Conclusion: Engineering a secure future

    The briefing at Sea Horse underscored that the era of drone warfare is not a transient phase but a permanent shift in global security. For Sensofusion and Mikko Hyppönen, the objective is to stay ahead of the rapid technological curve.

    By leveraging Finnish expertise in software-defined radio and AI, Sensofusion is providing the tools necessary to neutralize a pervasive and lethal threat. As Hyppönen concludes, the mission is much more than just hardware; it is about providing the situational awareness required to protect lives in an increasingly complex aerial environment.

    In a world where drones now dominate the front line, the silent, watching eye of Airfence serves as a vital shield for both Finland and its international partners.

    Chris Price was talking to Sensofusion’s Mikko Hyppönen as part of an AI Media tour of Finland, which he attended as a guest of Business Finland.

     

     

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  • What to know about Havana Syndrome and a device that might be linked to it

    There’s a new development in the yearslong international mystery over Havana Syndrome: The U.S. has obtained and has been testing a device that officials believe could be linked to the debilitating condition.

    Sources said the device was quietly obtained by the Department of Homeland Security in late 2024, almost a decade after symptoms of what became known as Havana Syndrome were first reported by U.S. embassy personnel in Cuba. The Pentagon has since been testing the portable, backpack-sized device, which emits pulsed, radio-frequency energy and contains components of Russian origin.

    The sources said Homeland Security investigators believe it may be capable of reproducing the effects described by victims of Havana Syndrome. The Pentagon and DHS did not immediately reply to requests for comment, and the CIA declined to comment.

    Here’s what to know about the mysterious illness.

    “My brain is broken” 

    The term Havana Syndrome is derived from the cases first reported by U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers in Cuba’s capital. After the U.S. embassy opened there in 2015, media outlets started reporting on strange medical symptoms affecting U.S. embassy personnel working in the country: dizziness, fatigue, memory problems and impaired vision. Other symptom include nausea, migraines, head pressure, vertigo and ringing or popping sensations in the ears. 

    Many people with Havana Syndrome describe hearing an intensely high-pitched, painful sound that appeared to subside when they moved to another location, with effects so severe for some that they were ultimately forced to leave their jobs.

    “My brain is broken,” former CIA analyst Erika Stith told CBS News in 2022. 

    “We got this as a result of serving our country. And we deserve to be taken care of,” she said.

    The U.S. government refers to the cases as “anomalous health incidents,” or AHIs, and officials have not confirmed what caused them. 

    But “60 Minutes” has spoken with experts who believe the incidents involve targeted sonic or microwave attacks. 

    Many of those affected believe that they were wounded by a secret weapon that fires a high-energy beam of microwaves or ultrasound. 

    Some Havana Syndrome victims have spent more than a decade trying to draw attention to their cases, often faulting the government for failing to provide enough support or access to specialized medical care.

    Who has been affected?

    More than 1,500 U.S. officials have reported experiencing the condition since 2016, including White House staff, CIA officers, FBI agents, military officers and their families. Cases have emerged in dozens of countries, and have even been reported in Washington, D.C.

    In 2021, a Havana Syndrome-style incident was reported in Vietnam shortly before then-Vice President Kamala Harris visited Hanoi. The U.S. embassy there said at the time that a “possible anomalous health incident” required at least one official to be evacuated for medical care, and it prompted Harris to delay her arrival. 

    “60 Minutes” later learned that 11 people reported being stricken: two officials at the U.S. embassy in Hanoi and nine others who were part of a Defense Department team preparing for Harris’ visit. While Harris was unharmed, some of the injured U.S. personnel were medevac’ed out of Vietnam.

    In another case, a State Department security officer who worked in the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China, told “60 Minutes” that he and his wife started having symptoms after hearing bizarre sounds in their apartment in 2017.

    The security officer, Mark Lenzi, described the sound as a “marble” circling down a “metal funnel” and said he heard it four times — always in the same spot at the same time of day: above his son’s crib when he put him to bed at night. He described the sound as “fairly loud” and like nothing he’d heard before. He and his wife began to feel ill shortly after hearing the sounds. 

    Lenzi said he believed he was targeted due to his work using top-secret equipment to analyze electronic threats to diplomatic missions. 

    “This was a directed standoff attack against my apartment…it was a weapon,” he told correspondent Scott Pelley. “I believe it’s RF, radio frequency energy, in the microwave range.”

    Questions about Russia’s possible role 

    “60 Minutes” reported in mid-2024 on a major development in the Havana Syndrome investigation: a suspected link between attacks in Tbilisi, Georgia, and a top-secret Russian intelligence unit, as well as evidence that a reliable source called “a receipt” for acoustic weapons testing done by the same intelligence unit.

    Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who led the Pentagon investigation into these incidents, told “60 Minutes” at the time that he was confident that Russia was behind these attacks, and that they were part of a worldwide campaign to neutralize U.S. officials.

    “If my mother had seen what I saw, she would say, ‘It’s the Russians, stupid,’” Edgreen said.

    U.S. assessments

    A U.S. intelligence assessment released in 2023 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the illnesses — a conclusion reaffirmed in an updated review released a year ago. That review found that most of the intelligence community continued to view foreign involvement as highly improbable. 

    Two agencies, however, revised their positions, saying there was a “roughly even chance” that a foreign adversary had developed a device capable of harming American officials and their families, while stopping short of linking such a device directly to the reported AHIs.

    In 2024, the House Intelligence Committee concluded in a report that the 2023 assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence “lacked analytic integrity and was highly irregular in its formulation.” The report said it “appears increasingly likely that a foreign adversary is behind some cases of what officials refer to as “anomalous health incidents.”

    The Office of the Director of National Intelligence says it has been conducting a review of the intelligence community’s previous investigations of the incidents and “remains committed to sharing findings” with the American public when it’s complete.

    Former senior CIA intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos said that “a new, full analytic review is now warranted, and the DNI must call for one.”

    Polymeropoulos, who has spoken publicly of the symptoms he suffered after he said he was stricken in Moscow in 2017, criticized the agencies for what he said were disingenuous prior inquiries. 

    “The CIA always claimed that none of this technology even existed, that a device didn’t exist, and they based their [assessments] on this,” he said, “so their entire analytic assumptions are now blown up.”

    Olivia Gazis,

    Brit McCandless Farmer,

    Scott Pelley and

    Will Croxton

    contributed to this report.

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  • Trump Son-In-Law Kushner, Envoy Witkoff Plan to Meet Putin in Moscow, Bloomberg News Reports

    Jan 14 (Reuters) – ‌White ​House envoy ‌Steve Witkoff ​and U.S. President ‍Donald Trump’s son-in-law ​Jared ​Kushner ⁠are seeking to travel to Moscow to meet Russian ‌President Vladimir Putin, Bloomberg ​News reported ‌on ‍Wednesday, citing ⁠people familiar with the matter.

    The meeting could happen this month, ​though plans are not final and timing may slip due to unrest in Iran, the report said.

    Reuters could not immediately ​verify the report.

    (Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Andrew Heavens)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • French Foreign Minister: Iran Crackdown Could Be Most Violent in Its Contemporary History

    PARIS, Jan ‌14 (Reuters) – ​France ‌suspects that Iran’s ​crackdown on ‍demonstrations across ​the ​country ⁠is the most violent in the country’s ‌contemporary history, French ​Foreign Minister ‌Jean-Noel ‍Barrot said on ⁠Wednesday.

    “What we suspect is that this ​is the most violent repression in Iran’s contemporary history and that it must absolutely stop,” Barrot said.

    (Reporting ​by Benoit Van Overstraeten and John ​Irish;Editing by Louise Rasmussen)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • Russia Slams US Strike Threats, Warns Against Interference in Iran

    MOSCOW, Jan ‌13 (Reuters) – ​Russia on ‌Tuesday condemned what ​it described as “subversive ‍external interference” in ​Iran’s ​internal ⁠politics and said U.S. threats of new military strikes against the country ‌were “categorically unacceptable.”

    “Those who plan ​to use ‌externally inspired ‍unrest as ⁠a pretext for repeating the aggression against Iran committed in June ​2025 must be aware of the disastrous consequences of such actions for the situation in the Middle East and global international security,” the ​Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

    (Reporting by Maxim ​Rodionov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Russian Drones Hit Two Foreign Vessels Near Ukraine’s Port, Source Says

    KYIV, ‌Jan ​12 (Reuters) – ‌Russian drones ​on ‍Monday ​hit ​two foreign-flagged vessels ⁠near Ukraine’s southern ‌port of ​Chornomorsk, a ‌person ‍familiar with ⁠the matter told ​Reuters.

    One of the vessels was heading to Italy, the person said.

    (Reporting ​by Yuliia DysaEditing by ​Tomasz Janowski)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Germany’s Merz Expects US Participation in Greenland’s Protection

    AHMEDABAD, India, Jan ‌12 (Reuters) – ​Germany’s Chancellor ‌Friedrich Merz said on ​Monday he expects the ‍United States to ​continue to ​protect ⁠Greenland together with Denmark but ongoing talks would determine the exact nature of the ‌collaboration.

    “We are in very detailed ​discussions with ‌the Danish ‍government ⁠and simply want to work together to improve the security situation for Greenland,” Merz told reporters in ​the Indian city of Ahmedabad.

    “I expect the Americans to also participate in this,” he said, adding that talks over the next few days and weeks would show in ​what form that would happen.

    (Reporting by Reinhard Becker and Maria MartinezWriting by ​Ludwig Burger; editing by Matthias Williams)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • UK can legally stop shadow fleet tankers, ministers believe

    The government has identified a legal basis which it believes can be used to allow UK military to board and detain vessels in so-called shadow fleets, BBC News understands.

    Russia, Iran and Venezuela have all been accused of operating ships without a valid national flag to avoid sanctions on oil.

    Last week British armed forces assisted US troops in seizing the Marinera oil tanker, which American officials accused of carrying oil for Venezuela, Russia and Iran, breaking US sanctions.

    To date, no UK military personnel have boarded any vessels, but officials have spent the last few weeks exploring what measures could be used.

    The Sanctions and Money Laundering Act from 2018 can be used to approve the use of military force, ministers believe.

    It is understood there are plans for the armed forces to use these powers, in what is being described inside government as a ramping up of action against the ships.

    It is not known exactly when the first UK military action might occur.

    Two oil tankers subject to US sanctions were reportedly spotted sailing east through the English Channel towards Russia on Thursday.

    The UK has already imposed sanctions on more than 500 alleged shadow vessels, which it believes are helping to fund hostile activity, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Ministers say that action taken by the UK and its allies has forced around 200 ships off the seas, most of which will have been operating without a legitimate flag.

    Ship flagging is the process used to register a vessel to a specific country, which then allows it to travel in international waters and offers it certain protections under law.

    The government believes the new legal mechanism they have identified could be applied to any sanctioned vessels not legitimately flagged.

    Officials say this would have included the Marinera tanker, which was seized last week.

    The Marinera, a Venezuelan-linked ship previously known as the Bella 1, was stopped by the US Coast Guard as it travelled through the North Atlantic ocean between Iceland and Scotland.

    The Ministry of Defence said the US asked the UK for assistance, and that RAF surveillance aircraft and a Royal Navy support ship RFA Tideforce took part in the operation.

    Defence Secretary John Healey said the action was “in full compliance with international law”, adding the UK “will not stand by as malign activity increases on the high seas”.

    Healey told MPs on Wednesday that the government was “stepping up action on the shadow fleet, developing further military options and strengthening co-ordination with allies”.

    It is understood that identifying this legal mechanism was one of the further military options that Healey was referring to.

    The US has increased action against shadow fleet vessels, with five tankers seized in recent weeks.

    A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The defence secretary set out in parliament this week that deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government”.

    They added: “We will not comment on specific operational planning”.

    Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on Sunday that the number of insurance checks were being increased, with more than 600 ships stopped while sailing close to the British Isles.

    Vessels not legitimately flagged generally have no insurance, which experts have warned could lead to a crisis if they were involved in an incident like an expensive oil spill.

    But Alexander said it would not be appropriate to say how many alleged shadow vessels were known to have sailed in UK waters.

    She told Sky News: “Providing you with that information only helps one person and that is President Putin.”

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  • Britain to Develop New Ballistic Missile for Ukraine’s Defense

    Jan 11 (Reuters) – ‌The ​British government ‌said on ​Sunday that it ‍will develop a ​new ​deep-strike ⁠ballistic missile for Ukraine to support the country’s ‌war efforts against Russia.

    Under ​the ‌project, named ‍Nightfall, the ⁠British government said it has launched a competition to ​rapidly develop ground-launched ballistic missiles that could carry a 200 kg (440 lb) warhead over a range of more than ​500 km (310 miles).

    (Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Edmund Klamann)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • Russia Says It Fired Its Oreshnik Missile at Ukraine in Response to Strike on Putin’s Residence

    Jan 9 (Reuters) – ‌The ​Russian military ‌said on Friday that ​it had fired ‍its hypersonic Oreshnik ​missile at ​a ⁠target in Ukraine as part of what it said was a massive ‌overnight strike on energy ​facilities and ‌drone manufacturing ‍sites there.

    The ⁠Defence Ministry said in a statement that the strike was a response to ​an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences at the end of December.

    Kyiv has called the Russian assertion that it tried ​to attack the residence, in Russia’s Novgorod’s region, “a lie.”

    (Reporting by Andrew ​Osborn; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Donald Trump Says ‘I Don’t Need International Law’ In Quest For World Dominance: ‘Only’ THIS ‘Can Stop Me’ – Perez Hilton

    Well, this is concerning…

    Donald Trump is once again serving up a quote that sounds less like a presidential soundbite and more like a rejected line from a supervillain origin movie. And yes, it’s as alarming as it is headline-ready.

    Related: Jimmy Kimmel THANKS Donald Trump?! Whoa!

    In a new interview with the New York Times that has everyone clutching their pearls, Trump made it clear that pesky little things like international laws, rules, and norms are more of a suggestion than an actual obstacle. When discussing his ever-expanding vision for American dominance on Thursday, he casually dropped this gem:

    “I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people.”

    Oh, okay! If you say so! Nothing says reassuring like dismissing international law in the same breath as claiming you’ll only have benevolent intentions… Yeah, tell that to the multiple civilians who’ve been killed of late..

    When the Times tried to gently nudge him back toward reality by pointing out that, yes, laws do apply, Trump doubled down with a rhetorical shrug that could be heard around the globe:

    “It depends what your definition of international law is.”

    WHAT?!

    Because definitions are so subjective, right? Gravity, laws, facts: all vibes-based, apparently. Sheesh…

    But wait, it gets better. According to Trump, there is exactly one thing holding him back from full-on global supremacy. And no, it’s not Congress, the courts, or literally the rest of the world. It’s this:

    “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

    Take a moment, y’all. Breathe. Scream into a pillow if needed.

    This interview lands just days after US forces under Trump’s direction seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores during strikes on the city of Caracas before shipping them off to face narco terrorism charges. Venezuela may have an interim leader now, but Trump has been boasting America is basically running the show.

    Related: Trump Makes Rare Melania Marriage Confession — Reveals What She ‘Hates’ About Him!

    And why stop there? Greenland is still on his wishlist, too. To that end, Trump explained to the Times on Thursday that being allies with Denmark simply isn’t enough. He wants full ownership of the land mass. In his own words:

    “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success. I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do with, you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document.”

    Add this to past musings about Colombia, Cuba, Iran, and Mexico, and suddenly this feels less like foreign policy and more like a Monopoly board where someone flipped the table.

    Buckle up, y’all. Apparently the only thing between us and Trump’s global takeover is… Trump. Yikes.

    [Image via MEGA/WENN]

    Perez Hilton

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  • Trump greenlights Russian sanctions bill, paving way for 500% tariff on countries supporting Moscow: Graham

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump has approved a Russian sanctions bill designed to pressure Moscow to end its war with Ukraine.

    Graham revealed the development in a post on X, describing it as a pivotal shift in the U.S. approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

    “After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,” Graham said. 

    “This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent.”

    TRUMP TOUTS ‘TREMENDOUS PROGRESS’ BUT SAYS HE’LL MEET PUTIN AND ZELENSKYY ‘ONLY WHEN’ PEACE DEAL IS FINAL

    Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol July 31, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

    According to the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, the bipartisan legislation is designed to grant Trump sweeping, almost unprecedented, authority to economically isolate Russia and penalize major global economies that continue to trade with Moscow and finance its war against Ukraine.

    Most notably, the bill would require the United States to impose a 500% tariff on all goods imported from any country that continues to purchase Russian oil, petroleum products or uranium. The measure would effectively squeeze Russia financially while deterring foreign governments from undermining U.S. sanctions.

    TRUMP CASTS MADURO’S OUSTER AS ‘SMART’ MOVE AS RUSSIA, CHINA ENTER THE FRAY

    President Donald Trump

    President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting at the White House Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

    “This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine,” Graham said.

    “This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine.”

    Graham said voting could take place as early as next week and that he is looking forward to a strong bipartisan vote.

    US MILITARY SEIZES TWO SANCTIONED TANKERS IN ATLANTIC OCEAN

    Bella 1

    The vessel tanker Bella 1 was spotted in Singapore Strait after U.S. officials say the U.S. Coast Guard pursued an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela. (Hakon Rimmereid/via Reuters)

    The move on the Russian sanctions bill follows another sharp escalation in America’s clampdown on Moscow. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. forces reportedly seized an oil tanker attempting to transport sanctioned Venezuelan oil to Russia.

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    Graham publicly celebrated the seizure in another post on X, describing it as part of a broader winning streak of U.S. intervention aimed at Venezuela and Cuba. 

    In the post, he also took aim at critics such as Sen. Rand Paul, who has opposed the bill, arguing that it would damage America’s trade relations with much of the world.

    Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

    Bonny Chu is a Digital Production Assistant at Fox News Digital.

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  • U.S. military seizes Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic, officials say


    The U.S. carried out an operation Wednesday to seize the Marinera, a Venezuela-linked oil tanker formerly known as Bella-1, officials said.

    The U.S. European Command confirmed the seizure, saying the tanker was seized in the North Atlantic for violations of U.S. sanctions, and pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.

    The U.S. has been following the tanker since last month, CBS News first reported on Monday. The pursuit began during a pressure campaign on former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by U.S. forces last weekend. Two other oil tankers were seized by the U.S. last month.

    The Marinera — which has historically carried Venezuelan crude oil and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department — was previously flagged out of Panama. Like other tankers that were seized, it was sanctioned by U.S. authorities for its prior involvement in Iranian oil trading. It is now sailing under the Russian flag.

    A Russian submarine and other naval vessels had been deployed to escort the tanker as the U.S. followed it, two U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday.

    Reuters first reported that the seizure was underway on Wednesday.

    File photo: The vessel tanker Bella 1 at Singapore Strait in a picture taken from social media on March 18, 2025.

    Hakon Rimmereid/via REUTERS


    The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping lists the tanker as being ported out of Sochi, off the western coast of the Black Sea. The New York Times reported that the Russian government officially had asked the U.S. to stop all attempts to interdict the ship.  

    The two officials familiar with the Marinera seizure plans said earlier this week that the U.S. would rather seize the ship than sink it and that the operation could be similar to the one conducted last month when U.S. Marines and special operation forces working with the U.S. Coast Guard seized The Skipper, a large crude oil tanker flagged out of Guyana, after the vessel had left port in Venezuela.

    Ships like the Marinera and The Skipper are part of a so-called shadow fleet of ships that illegally transport oil from sanctioned nations like Russia, Iran and Venezuela.   

    Maduro has rejected U.S. allegations about how the vessels are being used and accuses the U.S. of plundering Venezuelan resources under the cover of law enforcement. 

    Nicole Sganga

    contributed to this report.

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  • Re-Elected President of Central African Republic Invites Russia’s Putin to Visit, TASS Says

    MOSCOW, Jan 7 (Reuters) – The ‌newly ​re-elected president of ‌the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera, ​has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit ‍his country, Russian state ​news agency TASS reported on ​Wednesday.

    Moscow ⁠has become a key ally of Touadera in recent years, with CAR in 2018 becoming the first West and Central African nation to ‌bring in Russia’s Wagner mercenaries as the chronically ​unstable ‌nation sought to fend ‍off ⁠several rebel groups.

    Touadera, in power since 2016, won a third term in office, provisional results showed this week, securing an outright majority in the presidential election held on December 28.

    In ​a video interview with TASS, Touadera called Putin a “great leader” and said the Kremlin chief was “very attentive” to relations with Bangui.

    Commenting on preliminary election results showing Touadera in the lead, the Wagner Group wrote on its Telegram channel: “We have no doubt that the chosen course of maintaining ​order and peace will prevail.”

    Touadera’s victory is likely to further Russia’s interests in the country, including in gold and diamond ​mining.

    (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew Osborn)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Russia Sends Submarine to Escort Tanker the US Tried to Seize off Venezuela, WSJ Reports

    Jan ‌6 (Reuters) – ​Russia has ‌deployed a ​submarine ‍and ​other ​naval vessels ⁠to escort an aging ‌oil tanker, Bella ​1, ‌the ‍Wall Street Journal ⁠reported on Tuesday , ​citing a U.S. official.

    Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

    (Reporting by Bipasha ​Dey in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Tom Hogue)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Trump says the US ‘needs’ Greenland for Arctic security. Here’s why

    Location, location, location: Greenland’s key position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a key part of security strategy in the High North. But for whom?Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make sure his country controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Greenland’s own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future. The island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.Here’s why Greenland is strategically important to Arctic security: Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.Video below: Stephen Miller says ‘obviously Greenland should be part of the United States’ Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other gadgets that are expected to power the world’s economy in the coming decades.That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers as they try to ease China’s dominance of the market for these critical minerals.Development of Greenland’s mineral resources is challenging because of the island’s harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional bulwark against potential investors. The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic. Denmark is moving to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic. Last year, the government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.” The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland. In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?”Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region. European leaders’ concerns were heightened following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

    Location, location, location: Greenland’s key position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a key part of security strategy in the High North. But for whom?

    Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make sure his country controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

    Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Greenland’s own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future.

    The island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

    Here’s why Greenland is strategically important to Arctic security:

    Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.

    Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.

    Video below: Stephen Miller says ‘obviously Greenland should be part of the United States’


    Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other gadgets that are expected to power the world’s economy in the coming decades.

    That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers as they try to ease China’s dominance of the market for these critical minerals.

    Development of Greenland’s mineral resources is challenging because of the island’s harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional bulwark against potential investors.

    The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

    Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.

    Denmark is moving to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic. Last year, the government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.”

    The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.

    Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.

    The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland.

    In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.

    Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?”

    Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region. European leaders’ concerns were heightened following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

    Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

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  • Russian family brings abandoned graves back to life

    Fearful that memories of the deceased could fade away, Natalia Kornilova and her family have made it their mission to bring Russia’s old cemeteries back to life, one gravestone at a time.

    Waves of post-Soviet emigration and a rapidly ageing population have left Russia with thousands of abandoned graves, many overgrown and covered with grime.

    Kornilova and her family have posted videos of them cleaning headstones that have racked up hundreds of thousands of views — but they say they are not motivated by the money.

    “As long as people are remembered, they are alive. And the graves we tidy up — those people are remembered,” Natalia told AFP.

    Every weekend, the family cleans abandoned graves in their hometown of Domodedovo, south of Moscow, meticulously scrubbing the headstones to reveal their inscriptions and the photographs sometimes attached to them.

    Natalia’s son Pavel has started accounts on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok where he posts before-and-after videos of the family cleaning graves.

    “At first, a headstone will be absolutely grimy. You can’t see the name, the surname, the dates, nothing at all. And after our cleaning, as if by magic, the names appear, and sometimes even images,” the 28-year-old told AFP, pointing to a drawing of a weeping baby rabbit etched onto an infant’s tomb.

    “We don’t take any money for this. No one pays us, and we don’t know the relatives of those buried there,” he stressed.

    But followers make small donations to buy plastic flowers that Pavel’s grandmother Lida places on the cleaned graves.

    Videos on the family’s YouTube channel, named “Babushka Lida” (Grandmother Lida), have clocked up hundreds of thousands of views.

    Their content has inspired others to take up grave cleaning, Pavel told AFP.

    “They’re even ready to clean up abandoned graves near their relatives’ plots in different cities across Russia and even around the world.”

    – ‘No-one left to come’ –

    “Unfortunately, many graves have been neglected,” Pavel said.

    “It’s not even because the relatives don’t want to come. Many may have moved to other cities or countries. And these are burials from the ’70s, ’60s — their closest relatives, their children, may already be elderly too, or perhaps have passed away, and there’s simply no one left to come.”

    In Russia, a country that spans 17 million square kilometres (more than six million square miles), people often move huge distances for a new job or family reasons.

    Nearly 11 million Russians have moved abroad since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, while close to a million left after Russia began its military offensive on Ukraine in 2022, according to estimates.

    The Russian diaspora ranks third in the world after India and Mexico, according to UN data.

    “The country is very large,” said Natalia Kornilova, whose family live across the world.

    But Russia can feel like a small place sometimes.

    “Once we accidentally came across a grave. It was our neighbours!” Natalia said.

    “We knew for sure they had no one left and no one to visit. And that’s exactly where it all began: we went there, cleaned up, and realised the scope of work was enormous.”

    Several private companies offer grave maintenance services, with prices ranging from 3,000 rubles ($40) to in excess of 16,000 rubles.

    Natalia and her sons do it for free.

    In the 1990s, a black market for cemetery plots flourished in Russia.

    Cemetery administrations illegally sold abandoned graves. The old headstones would be removed and other people buried there, she said.

    The family’s efforts help prevent this, the 55-year-old told AFP.

    “And it really feels like people start to smile when we’ve finished,” she added.

    “We look at the photographs, and it seems the people smile back.”

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