Month: January 2026

Sanaa (TIP)- Yemen’s separatists have announced a two-year transition to independence despite reporting 20 deaths in air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition in the south of the country. A military official from the separatist group — which is backed by the United Arab Emirates — announced on Friday, local time, that the fighters had been killed in air raids by the coalition on two military bases, an airport and other sites. Mohammed Abdulmalik, head of the separatist Southern Transitional Council’s (STC) in Wadi Hadhramaut and Hadhramaut Desert, said seven air strikes hit the Al-Khasha military camp. Further strikes targeted other sites in the region and the airport and military base in Seiyun, STC military sources and eyewitnesses told Agence France-Presse.
The bombardment and surprise independence bid followed weeks of tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the STC’s land-grab last month.
STC forces took much of resource-rich Hadhramaut, bordering Saudi Arabia, and neighbouring Mahra province on the Omani frontier, in a largely unopposed advance.
Yemen, which was divided into North and South from 1967 to 1990, could again be split in two years if the STC’s independence plan comes to fruition.
It would call the new country “South Arabia”.
STC President Aidaros Alzubidi said the transitional phase would include dialogue with Yemen’s north — controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels — and a referendum on independence.
But he warned the group would declare independence “immediately” if there was no dialogue or if southern Yemen was attacked again.
“The Council calls on the international community to sponsor dialogue between the concerned parties in the South and the North,” Mr Alzubidi said in a televised address.
“This constitutional declaration shall be considered immediately and directly effective before that date [January 2, 2028] if the call is not heeded or if the people of the South, their land, or their forces are subjected to any military attacks,” he added.
Meanwhile, the head of the country’s Saudi-backed presidential council, Rashad al-Alimi, has asked Saudi Arabia to hold a forum with all factions in Yemen’s south in a bid to ease tensions.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry welcomed the request, calling on the factions — including the STC — to “formulate a comprehensive vision for fair solutions to the southern cause”.
Both Saudi Arabia and the Emirates intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 as the major players in a coalition fighting the Houthis in the north.
But after a brutal, decade-long civil war, the Houthis remain in place, and the Saudis and Emiratis are backing different factions in the government-held territories. Yemen’s Aden-based government comprises a fractious coalition of groups, including the STC, united by their opposition to the Houthis.
The UAE, which withdrew most of its troops from Yemen in 2019, pledged to pull out the remainder after the coalition’s air strikes earlier this week on an alleged weapons shipment at Mukalla port, despite denying it contained arms.

Taipei (TIP)- The United States urged China to cease military pressure on Taiwan on Jan 1, days after Japan and Western countries voiced concern over escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait following two days of large-scale military exercises around the democratic island. “China’s military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily,” State Department spokesman Thomas Pigott said in a statement. “We urge Beijing to exercise restraint, cease its military pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful dialogue.”
The United States, Pigott added, “supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including by force or coercion.”
The State Department’s criticism was the first public response by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to this week’s Chinese military exercises.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung welcomed the U.S. government’s statement, saying that Taipei “will continue to work with the United States and all like-minded nations to defend the rules-based international order.”
But under Trump, Washington — which is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties — has taken a softer approach to Chinese pressure on the island than its predecessors, as the White House looks to avoid friction with Beijing in a bid to seal a broad trade deal with the Asian powerhouse.
Trump, who is scheduled to make a state visit to the Chinese capital in April for talks with leader Xi Jinping, on Monday downplayed the exercises and the possibility of Xi ordering an invasion of Taiwan.
Beijing views the self-ruled island as its “core of core issues” and regards it as a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
“I have a great relationship with President Xi. And he hasn’t told me anything about it. I certainly have seen it,” Trump said when asked about the exercises. “I don’t believe he’s going to be doing it,” Trump said in apparent reference to a Chinese invasion of the island.
Asked if the exercises concerned him, he replied, “No, nothing worries me.”
“They’ve been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area,” he added. “Now people take it a little bit differently.”
Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Tokyo had presented its concerns to the Chinese side over the drills, which it said “constitute actions that increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait.” Japan, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, New Zealand and the European Union all voiced concern over the exercises before the U.S. On Friday, China called the exercises “completely legitimate, necessary and beyond reproach.”
“No one cherishes peace across the Taiwan Strait more than we do, yet we will never allow any individual or force to tie our hands in curbing ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities in the name of safeguarding cross-Strait peace,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said in a New Year’s speech Thursday in Taipei that the island is determined to defend its sovereignty and pledged to boost its defenses — something the Trump administration has demanded — in response to China’s growing pressure.

New York (TIP)- Russia has formally asked the United States to stop chasing an oil tanker that was headed to Venezuela and is now fleeing a U.S. Coast Guard vessel in the Atlantic Ocean. Russia’s request was first reported by The New York Times, which quoted two people familiar with the matter. They said the diplomatic note was delivered to the State Department late on New Year’s Eve and was also sent to the Homeland Security Council at the White House.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he’s open to negotiations with Washington on combating drug trafficking.
“The U.S. 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,” Maduro said in a taped interview that aired Thursday on state television channel teleSUR, according to NBC News.
Tanker dispute intersects Trump’s Ukraine talks and Venezuela oil blockade
The dispute comes as President Donald Trump is trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. During a recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago, both leaders projected hope for a resolution. However, The Times noted that complex negotiations regarding territory and security assurances remain unresolved.
At the same time, the tanker confrontation is tied to Trump’s effort to pressure Maduro by imposing what The Times described as a quasi-blockade on some oil tankers, and what Trump called a “total and complete” maritime blockade of Venezuela’s oil exports.
Energy Intelligence reported that the U.S. seized the Skipper and boarded the Centuries, and that Venezuelan crude is piling up on ships and in limited onshore storage. US calls tanker ‘stateless’ as Russia rushes flag registration
American forces have been tracking the very large crude carrier, originally named Bella 1, for nearly two weeks. U.S. officials said that the tanker began its voyage in Iran and was headed to Venezuela to load oil when the Coast Guard tried to stop and board it in the Caribbean Sea.
According to The Times, American authorities determined the ship was not displaying a legitimate national flag during the initial encounter, giving the Coast Guard legal authority to board and inspect the vessel. U.S. authorities reportedly held a court-approved seizure warrant based on the vessel’s history of transporting Iranian oil that the United States alleges is sold to finance terrorism.
The crew, however, refused to allow the Coast Guard to board the ship and steered back toward the Atlantic. In the following days, U.S. officials said the crew painted a Russian flag on the hull and radioed the Coast Guard to claim they were sailing under Russian authority.

Bern (TIP)- Sparklers attached to champagne bottles and held too close to the ceiling likely sparked the deadly fire at the “Le Constellation” bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, during a New Year’s party, killing at least 40 people, CNN quoted officials as saying.
The blaze reportedly spread rapidly due to a flashover, and Swiss prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible criminal responsibility. Earlier, at a press conference in Crans-Montana, Valais Cantonal Police Commander Frederic Gisler said authorities responded swiftly after a fire was reported at a bar in the area. According to Gisler, smoke was first seen coming from the bar in the centre of the Swiss ski resort at around 1:30 am. Moments later, a witness contacted the emergency call centre to report the incident. A red alert was immediately issued to mobilise firefighting services, he added. The first teams from the Crans-Montana intercommunal police and the gendarmerie reached the scene at 1:32 am, and were soon joined by additional emergency responders, CNN reported.
“Their initial assignment was obviously to take care of the victims, to provide them emergency help,” Gisler said. He noted that firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze quickly. “Following that, the initial investigations were able to start,” he said. Reception centres were later set up to assist those affected by the incident, and a helpline was launched at 4:14 am to provide information and support to families. “All of the injured people had received care by shortly after 5 am, thanks to this widescale mobilisation,” CNN quoted Gisler as saying.
Families of those who lost their lives in the fire at Crans-Montana are facing a painful wait, as local authorities said it could take several days to identify all of the approximately 40 victims, CNN reported.
“Currently and in the days to come, the priority will be identifying the people who have died so that their bodies can be returned quickly to their families,” Gisler said in a press conference.
Swiss bar fire was like ‘hell’: Survivors recount ski resort blaze
Ringing in the new year with a night of drinking and dancing high in the Swiss Alps, Ebenezer Mehari, 17, decided to take a breather outside the packed Constellation Bar.
As he turned to go back inside, he told NBC News at the scene Friday, “hell” erupted as a deadly fire broke out. “I heard a big boom, and everybody was screaming,” he said.
Mehari said a thick smoke enveloped the venue and the crowd, blinding him. He fell to the ground as people rushed to escape the bar, he said, but a man pulled him away to safety. His friends were not so lucky, he says. “I have four friends who died,” he said, still struggling to process the loss. “For me, it’s not real.”
Axel Clavier, 16, from Paris, told The Associated Press that he lost his jacket, shoes and phone while fleeing, though he was grateful to have made it out. “I am still alive and it’s just stuff,” he said. “I’m still in shock.”
Samuel Rapp said he was at a restaurant next door when the fire broke out.
“A lot of people were screaming and it was horrible,” Rapp told NBC News’ British broadcasting partner Sky News. “People were walking on everybody,” he said, adding that he “saw a lot of people on the floor, and I think these people were dead because someone put jackets on their faces.”