10 Things Global News - 12th January 2026
Succinct, unbiased news from around the world
Iran Warns of Retaliation as Protests Kill Hundreds
UN Court Opens Landmark Rohingya Genocide Case
Europe Weighs NATO Mission in Greenland Amid Trump Push
Kyiv Heating Still Out for 1,000 Blocks After Air Strike
US Opens Criminal Probe Into Fed Chair Powell
UK Launches Nightfall Missile Project for Ukraine
UK Weighs Boarding Shadow Fleet Tankers
Meta Deactivates 550,000 Accounts Under Australia Kids Ban
EU Countries Approve Mercosur Trade Deal After 25 Years
Australia Wildfires Burn Nearly 900,000 Acres in Victoria
Iran has warned it will retaliate if attacked by the United States, as verified footage indicates hundreds of protesters have been killed in an escalating crackdown. About 180 body bags were visible in images from a morgue near Tehran. A US-based human rights group said it had verified 495 protesters and 48 security personnel killed nationwide, with 10,600 people detained.
US President Donald Trump said Iranian leaders had called him and wanted to negotiate, but added that Washington might act before any meeting and was considering “very strong options”. An official said he had been briefed on military strike plans, while other options discussed include cyber-attacks.
Iran’s parliament speaker warned that Israeli and US military and shipping centres would become legitimate targets if the country were attacked. The protests began over inflation and call to end clerical rule under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who dismissed demonstrators as “a bunch of vandals”.
Sources: BBC, The Guardian
A landmark case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya minority will open at the United Nations’ top court on Monday. It will be the first genocide case heard in full by the International Court of Justice in more than a decade, with potential repercussions for other proceedings, including South Africa’s case against Israel over the war in Gaza. The Gambia filed the case in 2019.
Myanmar’s armed forces launched an offensive in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh, where refugees recounted killings, mass rape and arson. A United Nations fact-finding mission concluded the campaign included “genocidal acts”, a finding rejected by the authorities as a counter-terrorism response.
The hearings will run for three weeks and, for the first time, hear victims in closed sessions. The country has been in turmoil since a 2021 coup and is now holding phased elections criticised as not free or fair.
Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera
A group of European countries led by the UK and Germany is discussing a military presence in Greenland to signal that NATO has Arctic security under control and to undercut US arguments for taking over the self-ruling Danish territory. Germany is expected to propose a joint NATO mission, “Arctic Sentry”, modelled on the alliance’s “Baltic Sentry”.
The talks have accelerated after a US raid this month to capture Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and as Donald Trump has intensified rhetoric about using force to control Greenland. On Sunday night he insisted the US would “own” Greenland and said he was talking about “acquiring”, not leasing, arguing Russia or China would otherwise act.
Denmark hopes diplomacy can temper the pressure, with its foreign minister and Greenland’s foreign minister planning talks in Washington this week. Marco Rubio has said the aim is to buy Greenland rather than stage an intervention.
Sources: Bloomberg, Associated Press
More than 1,000 apartment buildings in Kyiv are still without heating after a Russian attack early on Friday, local authorities said on Sunday. A missile strike left virtually the entire city without power and heating amid a sharp cold snap.
Officials said restoration work is ongoing, with 200 emergency crews conducting repairs in the Kyiv region. Water supplies were restored and electricity and heating were partially restored by Sunday, but the energy supply situation in the capital remains very difficult. Temperatures were already below minus 12 degrees Celsius and were set to plunge to minus 20 later this week.
Ukraine’s prime minister said not a single day passed this week without attacks on energy facilities and critical infrastructure, with 44 attacks recorded. Overnight strikes briefly cut off electricity to Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Sources: Reuters, CNN
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell tied to the central bank’s renovation of its headquarters and his June testimony to a Senate panel. The Fed said it had received grand jury subpoenas. Powell said the threat of criminal charges was an unprecedented challenge to the Fed’s independence and a consequence of setting interest rates based on its own assessment rather than presidential preferences.
Trump, who nominated Powell in 2017, has attacked him for not slashing rates and has threatened to fire him. Trump said he had no knowledge of the investigation and criticised Powell’s performance at the Fed and on building works. Powell said the probe would not interfere with his service and his term as chair ends in May.
One Republican senator Thom Tillis took to X to attack the move and said he would oppose confirming any Fed nominee until the matter is resolved.
Sources: Washington Post, BBC
The UK will develop new tactical ballistic missiles for Kyiv under “Project Nightfall”, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement late on Sunday. The missiles are intended to boost Ukrainian firepower and be capable of striking targets deep inside Russia.
Under Project Nightfall, the UK has launched a competition to rapidly develop ground-launched ballistic missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometres and designed to operate in high-threat battlefields with heavy electromagnetic interference. Nightfall missiles will carry a 200kg conventional high explosive warhead, cost a maximum £800,000 per missile, and production is set at 10 systems per month.
The missiles will be capable of being launched from a range of vehicles, firing multiple missiles in quick succession and withdrawing within minutes, allowing Ukrainian forces to hit key military targets before Russian forces can respond.
Sources: The Independent, UK Government
UK ministers believe they have identified a legal basis to allow the military to board and detain so-called shadow fleet vessels operating without a valid national flag to avoid oil sanctions. Officials have been exploring options for weeks, and ministers believe the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act 2018 can be used to approve the use of military force. Plans are being described inside government as a ramping up of action, though timing is unclear.
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 in breach of US sanctions. The US asked for assistance, and RAF surveillance aircraft and a Royal Navy support ship took part. UK officials say the new mechanism could apply to sanctioned vessels not legitimately flagged.
The UK has sanctioned more than 500 alleged shadow vessels and says allied action has forced around 200 ships off the seas. More than 600 ships have been stopped for insurance checks near the British Isles, amid concerns over spill risk.
Sources: BBC, The Times
Meta says it has deactivated almost 550,000 accounts in Australia after the country’s under-16 social media ban came into force, removing users it believed were children from Instagram, Facebook and Threads.
Between 4 December, when enforcement began, and 11 December, the company shut 330,639 Instagram accounts, 173,497 Facebook accounts and 39,916 Threads accounts. The law took effect on 10 December and requires platforms including TikTok and Instagram to keep under-16s off their services or face fines of up to A$49.5 million.
Meta said compliance would be a multi-layered process that it would continue to refine, while warning that determining users’ ages online remains difficult without an industry standard. It also cautioned that enforcement could trigger a “whack-a-mole effect”, as teenagers move to alternative apps to bypass the restrictions.
The federal government has said the ban would not be perfect right away, and teens gloated about evading it in replies to the prime minister’s social media accounts after it came into effect.
Sources: Bloomberg, The Guardian
A qualified majority of EU member states has approved the bloc’s long-negotiated trade agreement with the Mercosur group of South American countries, clearing the way for formal signature after 25 years of talks. France, Poland, Austria, Ireland and Hungary voted against, Belgium abstained, and Italy backed the deal after delaying it last month.
The agreement covers Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia and is expected to create the world’s largest free trade area, spanning about 700 million people. It includes the gradual removal of most tariffs, new import quotas for some agricultural products and legal protection for hundreds of European food names. EU governments also approved additional safeguards that would apply if imports surge.
The text must still be approved by the European Parliament, and parts extending beyond trade policy will require national ratification.
Sources: Politico, Le Monde
Wildfires (known in Australia as bushfires) in the Australian state of Victoria have killed at least one person, destroyed dozens of homes and burned nearly 900,000 acres (364,000 ha) since last week, authorities said on Sunday. More than 30 fires were still burning across the state, with some near the border with New South Wales and others in Great Otway National Park or outside towns north of Melbourne.
The blazes were sparked by a searing heat wave that brought record-breaking temperatures and created the worst fire conditions since the 2019–2020 Black Summer season. Most were started by lightning strikes last Thursday. Temperatures peaked above 40 degrees Celsius on Friday before easing, allowing firefighters to rein in some fires, although conditions remained warm and windy.
One fire with a 250-mile (400 km) perimeter near the town of Longwood destroyed about 150 structures, officials said. Another fire razed 47 homes and three businesses but was now 80 percent contained.
Sources: New York Times, BBC
On this day …..
On this day in 1962, the United States Air Force began Operation Ranch Hand, the tactical aerial spraying of herbicides - most notably Agent Orange - over South Vietnam as part of its counter-insurgency strategy.
Approved under President John F. Kennedy, the programme sought to defoliate jungle cover and destroy crops used by the Viet Cong, eventually almost 20,000 aerial sorties over a ten year span would spread herbicides & defoliants over millions of acres of land.
Ranch Hand’s use of chemicals had profound environmental impacts and long-lasting health consequences for tens of thousands of Vietnamese civilians and US Army veterans alike, shaping debates over chemical warfare and veteran care for decades.