10 Things Global News - 14th January 2026
Succinct, unbiased news from around the world
Iran Protest Death Toll Passes 2,500 as Trump Issues Warning
Russia Strikes Ukraine Energy Grid as Winter Deepens
Europe Seeks Deal With Trump to Defuse Greenland Crisis
Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Ex-Leader Yoon
Deaths Exceed Births in France for First Time Since WWII
China Trade Surplus Hits Record $1.2 Trillion in 2025
US Clears Nvidia H200 AI Chip Sales to China
Davos Opens as Trump Tests a Rules-Based Worldview
Seoul Courts Both Sides As China-Japan Rift Deepens
Adelaide Writers Week Cancelled After Disinviting Author
Human rights groups say more than 2,500 people have been killed in Iran during a security-force crackdown on nationwide protests that began in late December over the collapsing currency and rising living costs. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports at least 2,571 deaths, including protesters, government-affiliated personnel, children and civilians not involved in demonstrations. An Iranian official separately told Reuters about 2,000 had died, blaming “terrorists”. Activists say the true figure is likely higher amid a near-total internet shutdown.
President Donald Trump has pledged that “help is on its way”, cancelled meetings with Iranian officials and said the US would act once it had “accurate” figures. He has also announced 25 percent tariffs on countries trading with Iran and said he would take “very strong action” if protesters were executed.
Iran’s leadership says foreign-backed groups infiltrated the unrest. Prosecutors have charged some detainees with offences carrying the death penalty, and one 26-year-old man has already been sentenced to death.
Sources: BBC, Associated Press
Russia launched a major overnight assault on Ukraine’s energy network, firing 293 drones and 18 missiles as temperatures fell to -15C in Kyiv. Air defences intercepted most of the attack, but critical infrastructure was damaged across Kyiv and regions including Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk. The main targets were power plants, generation facilities and substations, Ukrainian authorities said.
Several hundred thousand households were left without electricity, emergency power restrictions were imposed in the capital region and rolling outages were expected to last for days. In Kharkiv, four people were killed and six injured when a missile struck a logistics centre belonging to the courier company Nova Poshta, which Ukrainian officials said had no military purpose.
The strikes follow Russia’s recent use of a hypersonic, nuclear-capable missile, described by the United States as a dangerous escalation. Kyiv is pushing ahead with a US-led peace plan, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expected to meet President Donald Trump next week.
Sources: The Guardian, FT
European governments are scrambling to craft a deal on Greenland that would allow President Donald Trump to claim victory without triggering a rupture in NATO. Diplomats say proposals include using the alliance to bolster Arctic security and offering the United States access to profits from mineral extraction, after Trump repeated claims that Washington “needs” the island and would not rule out taking it by force.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio were “encouraging”, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a “mutually acceptable solution” could be found within NATO. Greenland and Danish foreign ministers are due to meet Vice President JD Vance and Rubio in Washington for what officials described as an attempt at an “honest conversation”.
EU and NATO figures have warned that any U.S. military intervention against Greenland, a territory of Denmark, would end the alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said such a move would mean “everything would stop”, underscoring Europe’s priority of avoiding a direct clash with Washington.
Sources: Politico Europe, Al Jazeera
Prosecutors in South Korea on Tuesday sought the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol, accusing him of leading an insurrection through the unconstitutional declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. The court is due to deliver its ruling on Feb. 19.
The special counsel team described the move as an unprecedented act of constitutional destruction and said Yoon mobilised the armed forces and police to suppress the National Assembly, including sending troops to block a vote to lift the decree, intruding into the election commission and attempting to cut power and water to media outlets.
Under criminal law, leading an insurrection carries only three penalties: death, life imprisonment with labour or life imprisonment without labour. Yoon was indicted and arrested over the case, and seven senior military and police officials were charged as accomplices.
Sources: Korea Times, Washington Post
France recorded more deaths than births in 2025 for the first time since the end of World War Two, official figures showed on Tuesday. The national statistics institute reported 651,000 deaths and 645,000 births last year, after births collapsed in number following the global COVID pandemic.
France has traditionally had stronger demographics than most of Europe, but an ageing population and falling birth rates show it is not immune to the demographic crunch straining public finances across the continent. INSEE said the fertility rate fell to 1.56 children per woman last year, its lowest level since World War One and well below the 1.8 assumed in pension funding forecasts.
Despite deaths outnumbering births, France’s population grew slightly to 69.1 million, due to net migration estimated at 176,000. Life expectancy reached record highs at 85.9 years for women and 80.3 for men, while the share of people aged 65 or older rose to 22%.
Sources: Reuters, Le Monde
China recorded a trade surplus of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, a rise of about 20 percent from the previous year, customs data released on Wednesday showed. Exports rose 5.5 percent to $3.77 trillion, while imports were flat at $2.58 trillion, lifting the surplus above the $1 trillion mark for the first time in November.
Shipments to the United States fell sharply after higher tariffs, with full-year exports to the US down 20 percent. That decline was offset by growth elsewhere, including increases of 26 percent to Africa, 13 percent to Southeast Asia, 8 percent to the European Union and 7 percent to Latin America. Strong demand for computer chips, related materials and cars supported exports.
Chinese officials said the external trade environment in 2026 would be “severe and complex” but that fundamentals remained solid. The head of the International Monetary Fund last month urged China to address economic imbalances and rely more on domestic demand.
Sources: Associated Press, New York Times
Washington approved Nvidia to sell its H200 artificial intelligence processors in China on Tuesday, ending a ban imposed over concerns the chips could give China’s technology industry and military an advantage. The Commerce Department said shipments are allowed provided there is sufficient supply in the United States. President Donald Trump said last month sales would be limited to approved customers and subject to a 25 percent fee.
The Bureau of Industry and Security said its revised export policy also covers less advanced processors and requires Chinese buyers to demonstrate sufficient security procedures and to avoid military use. The H200 is a generation behind Nvidia’s Blackwell processor, the company’s most advanced AI chip, which remains blocked from sale in China.
Nvidia said it welcomed the decision, arguing it would support manufacturing and jobs in the United States.
Sources: BBC, Times of India
Business and political leaders head to the World Economic Forum in Davos next week as its vision of a rules-based global economic order is tested to the limits. The forum’s 56th edition is dubbed “A Spirit of Dialogue”, and its leaders argue that “Dialogue is not a luxury, it is a necessity.”
Donald Trump’s expected appearance highlights the gap between his agenda and the forum’s consensus-driven approach. His “America First” policy has included tariffs used as punishment, military intervention in Venezuela, a threat of taking over Greenland by force, and a US retreat from cooperation on climate, health and other global challenges. The administration has also threatened Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with a criminal indictment, prompting many top central bankers to defend central bank independence.
The organisation is also in a leadership transition after its founder stepped down in April. It says over 3,000 delegates from more than 130 countries will attend, including 64 heads of state and government.
Sources: Reuters, FT
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday at a summit in Nara, in the second in-person meeting since Takaichi came into power in October. The talks came a week after Lee met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Lee’s first visit to China since 2019.
Relations between China and Japan have deteriorated since early November, when Takaichi suggested a Chinese attack on Taiwan could be considered a “survival-threatening situation”. China has issued travel advisories about travelling to Japan and reimposed a ban on Japanese seafood imports.
On Jan. 6, China announced a ban on the export of more than 800 dual-use goods to Japan, including some rare earth elements. In a tone that was somewhat lighter than the topics of the talks, after the summit Lee and Takaichi played drums together and exchanged autographed drumsticks.
Sources: Time, The Guardian
A major literary festival in Australia was cancelled after organisers removed Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from its programme, saying it would not be “culturally sensitive” for her to speak so soon after a mass shooting at a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney that killed 15 people.
The decision triggered a wave of withdrawals, with about 180 of roughly 240 scheduled writers pulling out in protest. Over the weekend, four members of the festival’s eight-member board, including its chair, resigned.
On Tuesday, the director of the writers’ week, Louise Adler, said she was stepping down, saying she “cannot be party to silencing writers”. Hours later, the board said the event could no longer go ahead as planned in late February and apologised, acknowledging it had “created more division”.
Sources: New York Times, BBC
On this day …..
On this day 2019, the U.S. National Safety Council reported that for the first time the lifetime odds of an American dying from an accidental opioid overdose exceeded the odds of dying in a motor-vehicle crash.
Analysis of 2017 mortality data showed the chance of death from an opioid overdose at about 1 in 96, compared with a 1 in 103 chance of dying in a car accident, underscoring the intensifying opioid epidemic and its shifting burden on public health and safety priorities in the United States.