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On Christmas Eve, Hindu hardline groups affiliated with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced a shutdown in the central Indian city of Raipur. The protest was called over allegations of “forced” religious conversions by Christians, a claim frequently levelled against the Christian community despite scant evidence. That same day, groups of men armed with wooden sticks stormed a shopping mall in Raipur, vandalising Christmas decorations and disrupting celebrations. Police filed a case against 30 to 40 unidentified attackers, but arrested only six. They were released on bail within days and, upon their release, were greeted with...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he’s been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran has indicated fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters. The U.S. president’s claims, which were made with few details, come as he’s told protesting Iranians in recent days that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Iranian government. But Trump has not offered any details about how the U.S. might respond and it wasn’t clear if his comments Wednesday indicated he would...

US President Donald Trump has renewed his threat to use military force to bring the Arctic island under American control Denmark has begun sending military personnel to Greenland, and allied reinforcements are expected to follow, Danish media reported on Wednesday.Greenlandic and Danish authorities announced that Danish military forces will expand their presence on the island and continue conducting exercises with allies throughout 2026.Greenlanders should expect to see more military planes, troops and ships in Greenland “including from NATO allies,” the statement reads.Danish Minister Defence Troels Lund Poulsen said on Wednesday afternoon that more countries were inbound for Greenland. Sweden...

Ukrainian air defenses were in action around Kyiv on Wednesday morning as Russian forces launched another mass drone attack targeting the city's already ravaged power and heating infrastructure with multiple explosions heard downtown. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that following the raid -- the third major attack in five days -- 6,000 buildings, about half of all buildings, were without power amid freezing temperatures. Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk said Tuesday that Russia was "going all in" to take out Ukraine's energy infrastructure after mass attacks targeting power and gas facilities overnight Monday and Jan. 9. The state-run electricity network operator...

Iran issued a grisly threat against President Trump on Wednesday, broadcasting a picture of the commander-in-chief during the 2024 Butler, Pa., rally assassination attempt — with the words “This time it will not miss the target. The ominous warning was aired on Iranian state-run TV, Agence France-Presse reported. It marks Tehran’s most direct threat yet against Trump, following his repeated threats that the US will strike the country if it continues its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Summary President Donald Trump insists the US needs Greenland for "national security", adding that anything less than American control of the territory is "unacceptable" It comes as US Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio meet the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers in the White House Trump's demands to take control of the island have been rejected by Greenland's leaders and Nato member Denmark, of which the island is a semi-autonomous territory European powers have thrown their support behind Danish sovereignty over Greenland The Danish military says it's boosting its presence in Greenland in "close cooperation with Nato...

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Sugary drinks and alcohol are not being sufficiently taxed and remain affordable, making it harder to tackle the chronic health problems caused by these beverages, according to two reports from the World Health Organization. The WHO has called for higher taxes on alcohol and sugar-sweetened drinks multiple times in recent years, arguing it would help cut consumption of the products which contribute to diseases such as diabetes, as well as raise money at a time when development aid is shrinking and public debt is rising. According to a report from WHO, sugary drinks have become more...

GENEVA -- U.S. President Donald Trump will return to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting of business, political and cultural elites in Davos, Switzerland next week, leading a record-large U.S. delegation, organizers said Tuesday. The Geneva-based think tank says Trump, whose assertive foreign policy on issues as diverse as Venezuela and Greenland in recent months has stirred concerns among U.S. friends and foes alike, will be accompanied by five Cabinet secretaries and other top officials for the event running from Monday through Jan. 23. A total of 850 CEOs and chairs of the world's top companies will be among the...

President Donald Trump says the US will take "very strong action" against Iran if it executes protesters, after earlier telling Iranians "help is on the way" It comes as relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, who was detained last week, tell BBC Persian he is due to be executed today More than 2,400 anti-government demonstrators have been killed in a violent crackdown by Iranian authorities, according to a US-based rights group Trump has been weighing military and other options in response, having already announced 25% tariffs on any country trading with Iran Iran's government has accused the US of seeking to...

U.S. Senate and House negotiators on Sunday night jointly released the overdue text for the fiscal 2026 foreign aid and diplomacy spending bill. And, somewhat surprisingly, it largely rejects the draconian cuts sought by U.S. President Donald Trump and even provides funding for several journalism organizations and democracy-promotion efforts that billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency tried to shutter. House Republicans highlighted the $9.3 billion (or 16 percent) in spending cuts that the compromise legislation would make to top-line funding levels compared to fiscal 2025 enacted levels. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, touted that the spending measure is still $3.8 billion...

President Trump threatened to "take very strong action" if Iranian authorities begin hanging anti-government protesters this week."We will take very strong action. If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action," Mr. Trump told "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil during an exclusive network interview in Dearborn, Michigan, airing Tuesday night. Mr. Trump said he's aware a "pretty substantial number" of people have been killed over the more than two weeks of demonstrations. Sources tell CBS News at least 12,000 — and possibly upwards of 20,000 — are now feared dead, as videos show body bags lined...

The closed-door meeting comes as Trump has floated the idea of obtaining Greenland “one way or another.” Arctic Caucus co-Chairs Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Angus King (I-Maine) will meet on Wednesday with Danish Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen to reaffirm their opposition to President Donald Trump’s effort to acquire Greenland.The closed-door meeting comes as Trump has floated the idea of obtaining Greenland “one way or another” — rhetoric that has drawn sharp rebukes from Copenhagen and Nuuk. The idea of taking over the Danish territory has met resistance from some senior Republicans and outright opposition from Democrats.Murkowski said she would support...

More than 2,000 people have been killed during the violent crackdown by security forces on protests in Iran, a human rights group has said, as President Trump promised Iranians that help was "on its way". The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that it had so far confirmed the killing of 1,850 protesters, 135 people affiliated with the government and nine uninvolved civilians as well as nine children over the last 17 days despite an internet blackout. An Iranian official also told Reuters that 2,000 people had been killed but that "terrorists" were to blame. Trump said Iranian...

Doctors in Tehran tell of overwhelmed medical staff as violent crackdown intensifies An ophthalmologist in Tehran has documented more than 400 eye injuries from gunshots in a single hospital, as overwhelmed medical staff struggle to cope with the toll of an increasingly violent crackdown on nationwide protests by Iranian authorities.Three doctors, in messages forwarded to the Guardian on Monday, described overwhelmed hospitals and emergency wings overflowing with protesters who had been shot. Medical staff said the gunshot wounds were mostly concentrated on protesters’ eyes and heads – a tactic that rights groups said authorities used against demonstrators in the country’s...

Iran is systematically crippling Starlink, the satellite internet service said to be almost impossible to jam. Military-grade GPS jammers deployed since January 8 have cut satellite internet performance by as much as 80% in parts of the country, according toAmir Rashidi, director of digital rights at the Miaan Group, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on Iranian internet censorship and digital rights.

The Somali fraud scandal has captured Americans’ imaginations. The story is almost unbelievable: Somalis in Minnesota allegedly set up fraudulent housing services, meal programs, and autism-therapy offerings, which formed part of a “web” that stole “billions of dollars in taxpayer money.” Some fraudulently obtained funds, according to federal law enforcement sources, ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab terrorists.Meantime, on the West Coast, another pattern of fraud has taken root: foreign criminals have developed sophisticated schemes to cheat and steal from unsuspecting Americans. I spoke with a veteran blue-city police detective, who has spent two decades investigating serious crimes, in...

WASHINGTON, DC – Iranians have taken to the streets to protest the collapse of the country’s currency and surging inflation, with many calling for an end to the Islamic Republic. Yet the government’s response has differed from earlier waves of unrest. Whereas Iran’s rulers were quick to suppress the 2009 Green Movement and the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, the security forces were slow to react as the current protests intensified. Rather than brutally cracking down, President Masoud Pezeshkian initially responded with belt-tightening reforms to free up funds for subsidies to the poor. But this stopgap didn’t hold. While the...

President Donald Trump has renewed his push for the United States to acquire Greenland from Denmark, again prompting gasps and outrage from elected Democrats and European elites. But the historical record and geopolitical reality suggest that acquiring the island territory would be not only fair compensation for American involvement in Europe since the start of World War II, but also a critical check against encroaching Chinese and Russian influence in the Arctic.Trump’s latest quip that Greenland’s defense is “two dog sleds” has the global liberal media tripping over itself to “fact-check” this obvious hyperbole and declare Trump an evil imperialist....

The Trump administration is ending temporary protected status for immigrants from Somalia, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a post on X. "Somali nationals with TPS are now required to leave the United States by March 17, 2026," a post from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said. Temporary protected status is provided to immigrants from some countries facing safety conditions, such as environmental disasters and armed conflict. Other countries currently covered include Lebanon, El Salvador and Yemen.

Excerpt- With phone lines opening back up for calls from inside the Islamic Republic, two sources, including one inside Iran, told CBS News on Tuesday that at least 12,000, and possibly as many as