Author: M Barbu

Manifestațiile de stradă din Iran au ajuns vineri în ziua 13. Mii de oameni au continuat să iasă în stradă, în ciuda amenințărilor. Prințul iranian Reza Pahlavi, fiul exilat al monarhului detronat al Iranului, a făcut apel la protestatari să continue demonstrațiile de stradă încă două nopți și să ocupe centrele orașelor, îndemnând în același timp angajații din sectorul energetic și al transporturilor să înceapă greve la nivel național, informează Iran International.

In May 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced that it would set in motion a process of dissolution. This historic disbandment was given further legitimacy when disarmament commenced in July, followed by a withdrawal of forces in October. The international response to the announcement has been overwhelmingly positive. While Kurdish diasporas were initially sceptical, cautious optimism is now predominant. Türkiye’s direct neighbours in Iran and Iraq also welcome the initiative that could bring more stability to the region, even though Kurdish public opinion in Iraq is more divided due to a complicated web of internal Kurdish politics. Recently, Türkiye also showed some goodwill by giving lawyers access to Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK’s leader who has been imprisoned since 1999. All the while, the process has been slow, updates have been published sparsely, and the details of the deal remain the subject of speculation.

Iranian researcher Mohammed Saleh Sedghian discussed the January 3, 2025 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in a January 4 appearance on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar). He said that such a scenario was unlikely to be repeated in Iran, due to Iran’s large territory and its geostrategic positions. Sedghian added that Russia has now abandoned its friend for a second time, after it failed to come to the aid of the former Syrian regime and allowed it to collapse and fall into the hands of Al-Sharaa. He further said that there are rumors alleging American-Russian cooperation in Maduro’s arrest.

Mass displacement, settler violence, and Israeli military killings have surged across the West Bank, driven by an unbridled campaign to seize Palestinian land

West Bank – In Burqin, a hillside village overlooking Jenin in the northern West Bank, the Abdullah family mourns a heavy loss.

The Lebanese Army announced the arrest of nine Lebanese nationals and 35 Syrians in the districts of Akkar, Tripoli, Batroun, Baalbek, and Hermel, on charges of “committing various crimes, including opening fire, possessing weapons, using drugs, smuggling people, and illegal roaming.”

The US news website Axios reported on Sunday, January 4, 2026, that senior Syrian and Israeli officials will meet in Paris on Monday.

Axios cited an Israeli official and another source familiar with the matter as saying the meeting will address resuming negotiations over the security agreement between the two sides.

Failure to air footage of Israeli soldiers executing unarmed Palestinians shows the corporation’s true bias

When it was revealed in November 2025 that a BBC programme edited a section of Donald Trump’s speech on 6 January 2021 to reinforce the idea that the freshly deposed president was calling on his supporters to take violent action at the US Capitol, both the director general and head of news resigned and the corporation immediately apologised for its behaviour.

The British government has a new policy promoting weapons exports to Syria, whose regime is led by former Al-Qaeda operatives

The UK government has issued new guidance to businesses outlining “opportunities” to export British arms to the country.

Palestinians stranded by newly drawn boundary question when they can return home

Despite the declared end of the war on the Gaza Strip under the agreement signed in October 2025, thousands of Palestinians continue to live in a state of forced displacement.