Category: WORLD

Seoul, Jan 14 (IANS) An internal rift in the South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party (PPP) was seen to be intensifying on Wednesday after its ethics committee voted to expel former chief Han Dong-hoon over allegations his family posted defamatory comments about former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The ethics panel announced the decision in a late-night meeting Tuesday, saying Han will be expelled for actions deemed “extremely damaging to the party” and for violating party rules in ways that hinder the PPP’s development and negatively affect public sentiment.

Han’s family faces allegations of uploading derogatory posts about Yoon, who was ousted over his failed martial law bid, and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, on a bulletin board of the PPP’s website.

The expulsion comes as the leadership of the current PPP chief, Jang Dong-hyeok, has sought to distance the embattled party from Yoon ahead of the June 3 local elections.

PPP lawmakers clashed over the committee’s decision, with those aligned with Han denouncing the vote as politically motivated, Yonhap news agency reported.

Rep. Woo Jae-jun, a member of the party’s youth supreme council, said the decision to expel Han has ‘no legitimacy,’ calling it ‘retaliation’ against Han for supporting Yoon’s impeachment.

Han, once a close aide to Yoon, was among party members who opposed Yoon’s decree on the night of the martial law and later supported his impeachment.

Shortly after the decision was announced, Han posted a brief message on his Facebook page, saying he will “defend democracy together with the people.”

In a press conference, Han described the party’s move as ‘another’ declaration of martial law, saying he will work to block it ‘once again’ with the people and party members.

“Another martial law has been declared that destroys the Constitution and democracy at a time when we must overcome the previous martial law and move toward unity,” Han said, though he added that he has no intention to file for reconsideration.

Rep. Song Seok-jun wrote on Facebook, “(The decision marks) the death of democracy within the party.”

Meanwhile, other members of the party’s leadership defended the panel’s move.

“There was a broad consensus within the party that this issue had dragged on too long and that we needed to come to a conclusion,” Rep. Shin Dong-wook said on a local radio program, urging the leadership’s efforts to prevent further escalation of the internal rift, Yonhap news agency reported.

On a YouTube channel of a local broadcaster, Rep. Kim Jae-won said the decision marked an end to the “Yoon Suk Yeol era” and urged the party to “start fresh.”

PPP media spokesperson Park Min-young also supported the committee’s move, stressing, “Manipulation of public opinion is not democracy.”

The decision has raised concerns that the escalating conflict could weaken the party in the upcoming local elections and drive away conservative supporters.

Under the ethics committee’s four-tier disciplinary system — which ranges from the lowest of warning to the highest of expulsion — Han will be expelled and stripped of his party membership.

The committee noted that Han publicly admitted that he belatedly became aware of his family’s involvement in the posts.

Han’s expulsion is expected to be finalised at a supreme council meeting as early as January 26.

–IANS

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Dhaka, Jan 14 (IANS) With Bangladesh gearing up for the February 12 general elections, cracks have begun to surface within the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, as disagreements over seat-sharing continue to intensify despite a deadline to finalise the arrangement, local media reported on Wednesday.

Citing sources, Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily, Prothom Alo, reported that eight out of the 11 alliance partners have reached a seat-sharing agreement with Jamaat, while the Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis remain undecided.

Report suggests that multiple party insiders stated that the Islami Andolan, which has been negotiating a seat-sharing arrangement, had initially sought to contest elections in more than a hundred seats.

Following discussions, the party has gradually reduced its demand for seats, with its latest position standing at more than 50 seats.

However, Jamaat’s offer for 40 seats has created dissatisfaction within the Islami Andolan. While some leaders are willing to compromise on 40 to 45 seats, another section believes that the deal should be reconsidered if their demands are not met.

Meanwhile, several leaders of the Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis said that they held talks with Jamaat on Monday. But disagreement over seat sharing persists as Jamaat is unwilling to meet their demands.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, a central committee leader of the Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis said that their party is seeking 25 to 30 seats, while Jamaat is offering a maximum of 20 seats.

He added that if they do not get the desired seats, their party intends to keep candidates open in the seats where no agreement is reached.

According to local media reports, Jamaat and Islami Andolan — two of the largest Islamist groups in the country — had been engaged in talks for over three months to consolidate Islamist votes under an alliance of eight predominantly Islamist parties.

Despite extended negotiations, the talks failed just short of the December 29, 2025, nomination deadline, prompting both parties to submit nominations in hundreds of seats, triggering turmoil within the alliance, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, reported.

According to the Election Commission data, Jamaat filed nominations in 276 seats on the final day, while Islami Andolan submitted nomination papers in 268 seats.

Bangladesh’s elections, scheduled for February 12, are unfolding amid escalating political tensions, with rifts widening across party lines.

–IANS

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Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) The United States carried out more air and drone strikes abroad in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term than during former President Joe Biden’s entire four-year term, said a survey published.

From January 20, 2025, to January 5, 2026, the United States conducted 573 air and drone strikes, and 658 when operations with coalition partners are included, compared with 494 strikes and 694 coalition operations during Biden’s four-year term, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

The nonprofit conflict watchdog said the United States was involved in 1,008 foreign military events in at least nine countries over the past 12 months, resulting in an estimated 1,093 fatalities, compared with 1,518 deaths from 1,648 events under Biden’s entire term.

The fatalities under Trump included at least 110 alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in international waters in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific, said a Newsweek report, noting that the number of deaths from US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in June remained unknown.

More than 80 per cent of the strikes were directed at Yemen’s Houthi rebels from between last January and December, accounting for over 530 deaths, ACLED said.

“Trump’s first year of foreign strikes shows a ‘strike first, ask questions later’ strategy,” the watchdog said in its analysis.

“The numbers show that the Trump administration has leaned hard on rapid, high-impact military action as a first response, moving quickly and with fewer constraints than in previous years.”

“What we are seeing in US foreign activity right now is striking not just for its speed, but for how openly it is challenging the idea that power should be constrained by shared rules,” said Clionadh Raleigh, CEO of ACLED, Xinhua news agency reported.

The recent operations in countries such as Venezuela and Nigeria show how quickly this approach can translate into force, but warned that attention may turn next to places like Greenland, Colombia and Cuba, which should be treated as independent states with their own political agency rather than as targets for control, he said.

Raleigh accused the second Trump administration of framing the places “as problems to be managed, and as places that also hold assets the US would benefit from controlling, whether that’s oil, territory, or strategic position.”

–IANS

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Dhaka, Jan 14 (IANS) With growing political violence ahead of the February elections in Bangladesh, a leader of the radical Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, was killed at his residence in Dhaka, local media reported on Wednesday.

The deceased, identified as 65-year-old Anwar Ullah, was a local leader of Jamaat from Dhaka.

Citing a police official, leading Bangladeshi daily The Dhaka Tribune reported that the incident unfolded in the early hours of Tuesday.

According to the officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, Monirul Islam, the attackers forced their way into the two-storey house by cutting through the iron grills.

After breaking into the house, they tied up Anwar’s wife before killing him.

The assailants reportedly fled with cash and gold ornaments. The family members alleged that the killing was carried out as part of a premeditated plan.

Recalling the incident, his son-in-law, Md Shamsuddoha, said two masked men broke into the house around 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday by cutting the grill and tortured Anwar by tying his hands.

“My mother-in-law called me around 5:00 a.m. and informed me about the incident. I rushed to the house and found him unconscious. A scarf was wrapped around his neck,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, quoted Shamsuddoha as saying.

He added that Anwar was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

This latest incident comes against the backdrop of a degrading law and order situation and escalating political violence across Bangladesh ahead of the general elections.

Last week, a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) youth wing, Jubo Dal, was killed in a late-night attack in Panchbibi upazila of Joypurhat district, with his younger brother also injured, local media reported, citing police officials.

The deceased, identified as 31-year-old Yanul Hossain, was reportedly an active member of Jubo Dal, while his 22-year-old younger brother, Abdul Momin, sustained injuries during the attack.

Earlier on the night of January 7, a leader of the BNP’s voluntary wing, Jatiyatabadi Swechasebak Dal, was shot dead by gunmen in Dhaka.

Azizur Rahman Mosabbir, a joint convener of the Swechasebak Dal’s Dhaka North unit, was reportedly having tea with a party colleague at a stall behind the Bashundhara City Shopping Mall in the Karwan Bazar area when several assailants arrived on motorcycles, opened fire indiscriminately, and fled.

Recently, the BNP raised serious concerns over the law and order situation in the country ahead of the February elections, criticising the performance of law enforcement agencies under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

Bangladesh has witnessed escalating protests and a deteriorating law and order situation since the Yunus-led interim government assumed power in August 2024.

IANS

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Sydney, Jan 14 (IANS) The premier of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Wednesday that a footbridge used by the perpetrators of the terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach should be demolished.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said at a press conference in Sydney that his personal view is that the footbridge at the northern end of the iconic beach should be torn down, but said a final decision would be made by the local council.

“I would just hate it to be a ghoulish reminder or even exploited by reprehensible people in the future,” Minns said.

Wednesday marked one month since 15 people were killed at Bondi Beach in Australia’s most deadly mass shooting since 1996.

The footbridge that connects a major road to a park adjacent to Bondi Beach was used by the alleged gunmen during the attack that targeted an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Eastern Sydney’s Waverley Council will on Thursday night hold a special meeting to consider removing the structure, Xinhua news agency reported.

It previously said in December that a final decision on the footbridge would require consultation with the Jewish community and the families of the victims.

“We can’t allow one of the most beautiful places on Earth to be remembered forever and only as a place of horrible terrorism because it’s so much more than that,” Minns said on Wednesday.

Earlier on January 13, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had declared that a national day of mourning will be held on January 22 for the victims of the terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Flags will be flown at half mast in all government buildings around Australia on January 22 to honour the victims of the attack that targeted an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at the iconic Bondi Beach on December 14., Albanese said at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) A passenger train travelling from Bangkok to Thailand’s northeastern region met with a major accident on Wednesday after a construction crane collapsed onto one of its coaches, resulting in the deaths of at least 22 people and injuries to over 55 others, according to Thai police officials.

The incident occurred at around 9:05 am in the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, located nearly 230 km northeast of the Thai capital. The train was en route to Ubon Ratchathani province when the accident took place.

Preliminary information suggests that the crane was being used at a construction site for a high-speed railway project running parallel to the existing rail line. While the train was passing through the area, the crane reportedly lost balance and collapsed, striking a moving carriage. The impact caused several coaches to derail, and parts of the train briefly caught fire, adding to the chaos at the site.

Videos circulating on social media showed extensive damage to the train, with rescue personnel cutting through twisted metal to reach passengers trapped inside the derailed coaches. Emergency responders, including firefighters, medical teams, and disaster response units, were rushed to the scene to carry out rescue and relief operations.

The Thai government’s public relations department confirmed the incident on social media platform X, stating that multiple rescue teams were deployed immediately after the collapse. It added that many passengers were trapped inside the carriages at the time of the accident.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said he has instructed agencies to conduct a transparent, comprehensive investigation to determine the cause and prevent recurrence.

Thailand’s Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said that around 195 passengers were on board the train. Authorities are currently working to identify the victims and provide medical assistance to those injured, several of whom are reported to be in critical condition.

The collapsed crane was part of a high-speed rail project valued at approximately $5.4 billion.

Thailand has witnessed several industrial and construction-related accidents in recent years, often raising concerns over safety compliance. Following Wednesday’s tragedy, authorities have ordered a detailed investigation to determine the cause of the crane collapse and fix accountability.

–IANS

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Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) President Donald Trump said the US economy was “rocketing” on the back of a manufacturing revival, defending his rollback of electric vehicle mandates and predicting that robotics would play a growing role in addressing labor shortages.

Speaking during an interview with CBS News at an active Ford assembly line, Trump pointed to expanded production across major automakers as evidence of economic strength.

“If you went around this plant, like I have, they just announced they’re going to 24 hours,” Trump said. “This is a Ford plant, but GM’s the same, Stellantis is the same.”

Trump said factories across the country were expanding and operating around the clock, describing the pace of growth as unprecedented.

“They’re enlarging every plant in this country,” he said. “We’re building more plants in the country than we’ve ever built.”

Addressing inflation concerns, Trump said economic conditions had improved sharply since he took office, though he acknowledged that some Americans still felt pressure from higher grocery prices.

“I inherited a mess,” he said. “I inherited a mess of crime. I inherited a mess of inflation.”

Trump said inflation levels had dropped to their lowest point in years and argued that job growth and stock market performance reflected broad economic health.

“Our growth numbers are through the roof,” he said. “Our job numbers are tremendous.”

The president also defended his decision to end federal mandates requiring consumers to shift rapidly to electric vehicles, saying Americans should have a choice.

“I want electric, and I want gasoline, and I want hybrids, I want everything,” Trump said. “Now people can have electric. They can have gasoline. They can have hybrid.”

When asked about the idling of an electric vehicle plant near the Ford facility, Trump said production was shifting back to gasoline vehicles, a move he framed as market-driven.

Trump acknowledged labor shortages in manufacturing, citing comments from Ford’s chief executive about thousands of unfilled mechanic jobs, but described the situation as a positive sign.

“That means it’s vibrant,” he said. “You could also have things where you have so many people and they can’t get jobs.”

He said companies were rapidly training workers and predicted automation would help fill gaps.

“I think that robotics are gonna be a big factor in the future,” Trump said. “This country won’t have enough people if we don’t have it.”

Trump also said layoffs in the federal workforce were helping push workers into higher-paying private sector jobs.

“Those workers are being trained to go into the private sector at a much higher salary,” he said.

Asked about the long-term future of jobs on factory floors, Trump said skilled workers would earn more, not less, as the economy expands.

“A skilled worker, a person with talent… they’re gonna make a lotta money,” he said.

–IANS

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Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) US federal courts across multiple states have ruled against immigration authorities in a series of cases involving Indian nationals, finding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unlawfully detained them without bond hearings or due process protections required under federal law.

In rulings issued this month in California, Michigan and Pennsylvania, judges ordered the release of Indian citizens or directed ICE to provide prompt bond hearings, rejecting the government’s use of mandatory detention provisions for individuals who were already living in the United States.

In California, the US District Court for the Southern District of California ordered the immediate release of Vikas Kumar, an Indian national detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. The court ruled that ICE unlawfully revoked Kumar’s parole without notice, explanation or a hearing, violating the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

Kumar entered the United States in March 2024 and was released on conditional parole after authorities found he was not a flight risk or a danger to the community. He later obtained work authorisation, a driver’s licence and a Social Security number, and applied for asylum.

He was re-arrested in December 2025 while delivering food for DoorDash. The court said the government failed to show any changed circumstances that justified his detention and ordered his release under the original parole conditions.

In Michigan, the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan granted habeas relief to Varun Varun, an Indian citizen detained at the North Lake Processing Center. The court ruled that ICE wrongly held him under a mandatory detention statute that applies to arriving noncitizens, even though he had been living in the United States before his arrest.

Varun entered the US in April 2023 and was initially released on his own recognisance. He later applied for asylum and lived in California before being arrested while working as a truck driver in December 2025. The court ordered ICE to provide him with a bond hearing within five business days or release him, finding that his continued detention violated due process.

In a separate Michigan case, the same court granted similar relief to Sumit Tulsibhai Patel, another Indian national detained at the same facility. Patel entered the US in 2021 and was released on bond before being re-arrested in 2025. The court ruled that ICE again misapplied mandatory detention rules and ordered a bond hearing or release, citing constitutional concerns.

In Pennsylvania, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ordered the release of Amit Kanaut, an Indian citizen detained by ICE during a routine check-in in December 2025. Kanaut had entered the US in 2022, complied with ICE reporting requirements, worked legally and pursued an asylum claim.

The court rejected the government’s argument that Kanaut was subject to mandatory detention as an “applicant for admission,” noting that he had been residing in the United States for nearly three years. The judge said detaining him without a bond hearing “offends due process” and ordered his immediate release.

Across the cases, courts criticised a recent government policy directing ICE to treat many undocumented immigrants as subject to mandatory detention, even if they were already living in the country. Judges repeatedly held that such individuals fall under a different section of immigration law that allows release on bond.

The courts also stressed that noncitizens released after an initial custody determination have a protected liberty interest. Judges said parole or bond cannot be revoked without notice, reasons and an opportunity to be heard.

The rulings add to a growing body of decisions pushing back against ICE detention practices and reaffirming that immigration enforcement must comply with constitutional due process, including for Indian nationals seeking asylum in the United States.

–IANS

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Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) As part of its push for more fair and balanced trade with APEC partners, the United States hosted a regional roundtable of the APEC Alliance for Supply Chain Connectivity (A2C2) in Mexico City.

Attended by government officials from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies and private sector experts, the meeting discussed ways to strengthen supply chain resilience across the Asia-Pacific region, the State Department said.

This roundtable expanded on work carried out during the APEC 2025 Third Senior Officials Meeting in Incheon, South Korea, where members prioritized expanding participation and recommended new approaches to engaging the private sector.

The Regional Roundtable builds on the United States’ description of a long history of American leadership in promoting supply chain resilience through APEC and the A2C2 initiative.

By promoting secure, resilient and diverse supply chains, US officials said businesses can benefit from improved connectivity, expanded opportunities across the region and a greater ability to recover quickly when disruptions occur.

The roundtable featured public-private dialogue and coordination, with participants identifying regional and global best practices for supply chain digitalization. Discussions also focused on how those practices could be put into operation within domestic systems.

US officials said the effort is intended to benefit consumers and businesses in the United States and across the Asia-Pacific region by improving efficiency and reliability in cross-border trade.

Private sector representatives and APEC government experts discussed the digitalization of trade and customs procedures. The discussions emphasized coordination between governments and industry to ensure that digital reforms are practical and effective across different economies.

Established in 2014, the APEC Alliance for Supply Chain Connectivity serves as an advisory channel for stakeholders, including experts from APEC economies, companies, industry associations, multilateral institutions and non-governmental organizations. The group contributes to APEC’s broader supply chain connectivity initiative.

–IANS

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Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) The United States has designated the Egyptian, Lebanese and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as “terrorist organisations”, citing in part what it described as their support for the Hamas terror group, in a move that is set to impose sweeping sanctions on one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements.

The decision, which Washington formally initiated in November last year, will trigger financial and travel restrictions against the three branches.

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday (local time) said it has designated the chapters as specially designated global terrorists, accusing them of supporting or encouraging violent terror attacks against Israel and American partners in the region.

“Chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood purport to be legitimate civic organisations while, behind the scenes, they explicitly and enthusiastically support terrorist groups like Hamas,” the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing the designations.

As a consequence of the move, the United States will block any assets held by the Muslim Brotherhood within the world’s largest economy and criminalise transactions involving the group or its affiliates.

The designation also significantly restricts the ability of members to travel to the United States.

Egypt’s foreign ministry welcomed the decision, calling it a “crucial step that reflects the gravity of the group and its extremist ideology and what it represents as a direct threat to regional and international security and stability.”

Founded in Egypt in 1928, the pan-Islamist Muslim Brotherhood once expanded its influence across much of the Arab world.

In recent years, however, the movement has faced sustained pressure and crackdowns by several major Arab governments, leading to a gradual decline in its political reach and organisational strength.

The Brotherhood briefly rose to power in its home country through democratic means following the 2012 election of Mohamed Morsi, which came after the overthrow of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak had formally banned the Muslim Brotherhood, though some of its activities, including its extensive network of social services, were tolerated.

Morsi was removed from office in 2013 in a coup led by then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has since overseen a wide-ranging crackdown on the organisation.

Egypt, along with US allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has long sought to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood, whose ideological vision calls for the establishment of a unified Islamic caliphate.

The US decision to designate the branches was taken in part on the basis of their alleged support for Hamas, according to American officials.

The Treasury Department said the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Brotherhood had coordinated with Hamas, whose large-scale October 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparked a devastating Israeli military offensive in Gaza.

The US State Department, meanwhile, said that in Lebanon, the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Muslim movement, had allied itself with the Hezbollah terror group in launching rockets into Israel.

The Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood has “pushed for a more formal alignment with the Hizballah-Hamas axis”, the State Department said, underlining Washington’s concerns over the group’s regional alliances.

In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood had gained significant influence, with its political wing emerging as the main opposition party in parliament.

However, in April last year, Jordan banned the organisation and ordered the confiscation of its assets after accusing it of stockpiling weapons and plotting to destabilise the kingdom, which maintains a peace treaty with Israel.

In the United States, the Muslim Brotherhood has also been the subject of intense political debate in recent years.

Some conservative groups and lawmakers have promoted claims, widely regarded as unfounded, that the organisation is attempting to infiltrate the US government with the aim of imposing Islamic sharia law.

Republican legislators have repeatedly pushed for a formal ban on the Brotherhood, arguing that such a move would cut off potential funding channels.

–IANS

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